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r^r 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

LIBRARY 


THE  WILMER  COLLECTION 

OF  CIVIL  WAR  NOVELS 

PRESENTED  BY 

RICHARD  H.  WILMER,  JR. 


;2:>CE 


This  BOOK  may  be  kept  out  TWO  WEEKS 
ONLY,  and  is  subject  to  a  fine  of  FIVE 
CENTS  a  day  thereafter.  It  was  taken  out  on 
the  day  indicated  below: 


Wia(4v.iW 


dl)^ 


WH  Butler  AglUfh  Phils. 


Copm'oM,  I83S  tr,  Tfio:  Hi/nter 


ROBERT   ^ATARREN, 


The  Texan  Refugee. 


THRILLING  STORY  OF  FIELD  MD  CAMP  LIFE 


THE  LATE  CIVIL  WAR. 


CHICAGO,  ILLS. : 

VT".  H.  HABRISON,  JR., 

Publisher  and  BooKSEiiLEB, 


COPYRIGHT 

By  JOHN  E.  POTTER  AND  COMPANY 

1879 


PREFACE 


The  recent  war  between  the  States  gave  rise  to 
many  courageous  deeds,  and  furnished  the  histo- 
rian, the  poet,  and  the  novelist  with  the  noblest 
themes  that  can  inspire  the  pen  of  any  writer. 
Nor  was  it  the  battle-field  alone  that  brought  into 
play  the  highest  qualities  of  manhood ;  some  of 
the  most  signal  instances  of  patriotic  self-devotion 
and  heroic  endurance  were  enacted  at  home — in 
every  town  and  hamlet  throughout  the  land.    The 
purpose  of  the  present  story,  which  is  founded 
upon  actual  facts,  is  to  present  to  the  reader  a 
picture  of  events  occurring  during  the  late  Civil 
War,  in  which  the  strong  points  and  striking 
features  of  Southern  life  and  character  in  camp 
and  field,  as  also  the  home  circle,  are  faithfully 
portrayed;   and  with  a  view  of  preventing  the 
stirring  scenes  of  that  momentous  period  of  our 
national  existence  from  passing  out  of  the  mem- 
ory of  the  present  generation,  their  narration  in 
a  highly  attractive  and  entertaining  style  is  now 
offered  to  the  public. 

(iii) 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

The  Lone  Star  State 5 

CHAPTER  II. 
At  the  Polls i6 

CHAPTER  III. 
Waylaid 26 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Parlor  and  the  Cabin 33 

CHAPTER  V. 
Anarchy 47 

CHAPTER  VI. 
"Near  Used  Up." 55 

CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Journey  Northward 66 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Lakes 79 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Tad's  Cabin  Burned 85 

CHAPTER  X. 

On  the  Island 94 

(v) 


vi  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

PAGB 

Saved,  and  yet  Lost 103 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Kentucky "i 

CHAPTER  XIIL 
Speculations 120 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Barbecue 13° 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Trials  of  Southern  Loyalists 139 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
The  Old  Man's  Story 149 

CHAPTER  XVIL 
Preparing  for  Active  Service 158 

CHAPTER  XVIIL 
The  Situation  after  the  Battle 168 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Un^velcome  Visitor 183 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Again  on  the  Road 192 

CHAPTER  XXL 
Fort  Donelson 202 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
The  Home  at  Gonzelletta 213 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS.  vU 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

PAGB 

The  Four  Women  in  Council 224 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
The  Journey  to  Tennessee *33 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
The  Journey  Continued 245 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
On  the  Atchafalaya *5^ 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
Warren,  Gaines,  and  the  two  Dawns 270 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
Father  and  Son •  3^3 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Shiloh 31* 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
The  Ideal  Battle 3^2 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
Disasters ,....» 349 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 
Trials  of  the  Campaign 3^1 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
CHAPTER  XXXV. 


The  Lost  Sister •   •  37© 


The  Scouts  Re-enforced 39* 


Till  TABLE   OF    CONTEXTS. 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

PAGB 

The  Field  after  the  Battle 407 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
*«  The  City  of  a  Hundred  Hills." 433 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 
The  Confederacy  Bisected 448 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
In  Hospital 473 

CHAPTER  XL. 
A  Mighty  Man  of  War 501 

CHAPTER  XLI. 
Little  Ned 519 

CHAPTER  XLII. 
Old  Friends 531 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 
The  Last  but  One 545 

CHAPTER  XLIV. 
GONZEUJCTTA •••• 554 


CHAPTEE  I, 


THE  LONE  STAR  STATE. 

The  mass  of  our  countrymen  know  as  little  about 
Texas  as  they  do  about  Tartary.  Indeed,  their 
ideas  of  both  places  are  somewhat  alike.  As  Texas 
is  yet  destined,  by  its  soil  and  productions,  to  be  the 
Italy  of  America,  it  will  not  be  considered  foreign  to 
give  a  short  sketch  of  this  favored  land  as  a  proper  in- 
troduction to  the  story  of  one  of  her  sons. 

Few  countries  present  such  a  variety  of  climate, 
surface,  and  soil  as  Texas.  It  abounds  in  rugged 
mountains  and  sea-like  prairies,  in  dense  forests  and 
open  plains,  in  fertile  fields  and  arid  deserts.  On 
its  northern  front  the  clear  streams  are  frozen  in  the 
winter  season,  and  the  maple,  walnut,  and  beech  grow 
on  their  banks,  while  mountain  trout  in  myriads  ani- 
mate the  waters.  The  same  streams,  flowing  south  to 
the  gulf  for  hundreds  of  miles,  become  sluggish, 
muddy  rivers,  reflecting  the  live  oak,  the  pecan  and 
wild  orange,  linked  by  the  amorous  mustang  vines 
into  a  tangled  mass  of  tropical  glory  on  their  banks, 
while  the  gar-fish  and  alligator  glide  through  the 
sleepy  waters.  The  vegetable  and  mineral  produc- 
tions of  Texas  vary  with  the  face  of  the  country. 
1* 


6  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

The  hills  of  the  central  north  are  rich  in  gold-bearing 
quartz.  Vast  veins  of  almost  pure  iron  are  found  in 
this  region,  and  quarries  of  white  marble  rival  the 
famous  productions  of  Italy,  while  coal  in  abundance 
crops  out  from  the  ground. 

Going  south  to  within  one  hundred  miles  of  the 
gulf,  the  ores  are  lost,  nor  is  the  smallest  pebble 
met,  to  break  the  level  expanse  of  deep,  rich  loam 
which  stretches  away,  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  into 
boundless  prairies.  Here  and  there  on  the  sea-like 
surface  clusters  of  timber,  like  islands,  rise,  and  in 
the  peculiar  mirage  that  in  the  summer  time  is  ever 
changing  the  distant  forms,  the  groves  seem  mir- 
rored in  the  grassy  ocean.  Thousands  of  large- 
homed  cattle  revel  in  the  rich,  green  pastures. 
Flocks  of  wild  geese  fill  the  air  with  their  shrill  cries, 
and  herds  of  red  deer  sport  through  the  meadows 
of  Indian  pinks,  Texas  stars,  and  flowering  cactus, 
which  in  the  spring  time  convert  the  prairie  into  a 
vast,  variegated  cai-pet  of  ever-changing  hues  as  it 
rises  and  falls  in  billowy  undulations  before  the  soft 
south  wind. 

In  this  cosmos  the  apple  and  peach,  with  the  hardy 
cereals  of  the  north,  yield  bountiful  harvests,  while, 
do^^^l  by  the  gulf,  the  orange,  the  pomegranate  and 
fig  inclose  fields  of  com,  cotton  and  sugar.  This  di- 
versity of  climate,  soil,  and  productions  is  only  ex- 
ceeded by  the  difference  in  the  classes  that  inhabit 
Texas.  At  one  time  it  was  the  rendezvous  for  the 
outcasts  of  every  land ;  the  debtor  and  the  desperado, 
the  robber  and  murderer,  from  west  of  the  Eio  Grande 
and  east  of  the  Mississippi,  found  in  its  dense  forests 
and  uninhabited  plains  a  perfect  asylum.     Those  at 


THE  LONE  STAR  STATE.  7 

all  inclined  to  industry  had  an  inducement  to  settle 
down,  from  the  ease  with  which  they  could  live,  where 
the  prairies  teemed  with  cattle  and  the  soil  was  so 
productive  of  harvests. 

After  Texas  had  become  one  of  the  family  of 
States,  a  different  class  of  people  emigrated  thence. 
Mechanics  from  the  northern  States  and  planters 
from  the  South,  sturdy,  blue-eyed  Germans  from  the 
Ehine,  and  sallow-faced,  volatile  Gauls  from  Aca- 
dia, formed  committees  to  put  down  crime,  or  banded 
together  to  brand  their  herds  in  the  spring  and  fall. 
Still  the  morals  of  the  Texans,  as  a  people,  never 
stood  very  high.  The  wild,  free  life  of  the  ranger, 
and  the  sparsely -settled  territory  through  which  he 
roamed,  made  him  the  judge  of  the  offense  as  well  as 
the  executioner  of  the  penalty.  He  would  grasp  as 
that  of  a  brother  the  hand  red  with  the  blood  of  a 
companion  stabbed  in  some  drunken  fray,  while  he 
would  hang  without  remorse  the  wretch  who  stole 
a  horse  as  a  being  too  degraded  to  live,  though  the 
prairies  teemed  with  mustangs  valued  at  the  trouble 
of  catching. 

There  were  exceptions  to  this  rule  to  be  found  in 
many  settlements  throughout  the  State — places  where 
right  was  adkered  to  for  the  sake  of  right ;  where 
white-spired  churches  could  be  seen  peeping  from 
green  groves,  and  w^here,  on  Sabbath  days,  songs  of 
praise  could  be  heard  ascending  to  Him  who  had 
created  this  beautiful  land. 

Such  a  settlement  was  Gt)nzelletta,  on  the  San  Ber- 
nard Kiver,  a  few  hours'  ride  from  the  point  where  it 
empties  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  At  one  time  Gou- 
zelletta  was  a  flourishing  village,  with  a  mixed  Span- 


8  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

ish  and  American  population,  but,  after  the  battle  of 
San  Jacinto,  the  Mexicans  burned  the  place  in  their 
retreat,  and,  although  it  was  never  rebuilt,  the  set- 
tlement on  the  edge  of  the  prairie  still  retains  the 
name  of  the  town.  To  those  accustomed  to  a  roll- 
ing coimtry  this  place  would  at  first  appear  monoto- 
nous, but  the  clear  skies,  the  bracing  air,  the  sweep- 
ing plains,  and  the  dark,  rich  verdure  soon  compen- 
sate for  hill,  cliff,  and  cataract  in  the  more  sterile 
north.  Gonzelletta,  with  its  half  score  rich  planta- 
tions, its  handsome  dwellings,  embowered  in  groves 
^f  magnolia,  and  surrounded  by  masses  of  tropical 
flowers,  and  the  village-like  clusters  of  negro  cabins 
under  the  edge  of  the  woods,  fonned  a  picture  of 
beauty  and  peace  that  never  wearied  the  eye. 

At  the  date  of  our  narrative — February,  1861 — the 
two  principal  plantations  in  the  place  were  owned  by 
Kobert  Warren,  senior,  and  Mrs.  Boardman,  a  widow 
lady  who  had  settled  in  Gonzelletta  with  her  husband 
in  '52.  Mr.  Boardman  was  an  invalid,  and  left  Ten- 
nessee for  Texas  by  the  advice  of  his  physicians,  but 
death  sought  out  his  mark  as  quickly  as  if  it  had  not 
been  moved,  and  Mr.  Boardman  died  within  two 
years.  He  left  his  large  estate  to  his  widow  and  an 
only  child.  Amy,  who,  at  the  time  named  as  the 
commencement  of  our  story,  was  in  her  eighteenth 
year. 

As  this  is  not  a  novel,  the  writer  cannot  in  truth 
draw  a  picture  of  improbable  angel  beauty,  for  Amy 
was  simply  a  modest-looking,  browTi-haired  girl,  with 
nothing  in  her  appearance  to  attract  a  second  glance 
from  a  casual  observer.  She  was  educated  at  home 
by  a  New  England  lady  who  had  accompanied  the 


THE  LONE  STAR  STATE.  9 

family  from  Tennessee.  This  lady  subsequently  mar- 
ried a  lawyer  from  Brazoria,  named  Gasting.  Though 
refined,  Amy  was  not  accomplished,  as  the  world  calls 
it.  She  could  draw  and  play  a  little,  and  when  her 
heart  was  full  of  the  beauty  around  her,  she  could 
pour  out  her  feelings  in  songs  for  which  words  were 
never  written  and  music  never  set. 

It  was  the  evening  before  the  secession  of  Texas 
from  the  Union,  and  in  the  glory  of  a  tropical  sky 
the  red  sun  was  sinking  behind  the  woods,  canopied 
by  masses  of  golden  and  opal  clouds  that  flooded 
the  landscape  with  varied  colors,  like  the  light 
streaming  down  from  the  stained  windows  of  some 
mighty  cathedral.  The  soft,  lulling  breeze  from  the 
gulf  went  sighing  through  the  magnolias,  scattering 
the  rich  incense  around,  and  the  plantation  bells 
broke  the  stillness  as  they  called  the -.negroes  from 
their  labor  in  the  fields.  Amy,  with  her  mother,  a 
fine,  matronly-looking  lady  of  forty-five  years,  was 
sitting  on  the  wide  gallery  so  peculiar  to  southern 
houses.  Both  mother  and  daughter  looked  pale  and 
depressed,  and  at  times  the  eyes  of  the  girl  were 
turned  eagerly  toward  the  long,  straight  road  across 
the  prairie. 

"Mother,"  said  Amy,  breaking  the  long  silence, 
*'  I  feel  sick  at  heart,  and  a  dread  that  I  cannot  give 
cause  for  makes  me  shiver." 

*'  I  feel  as  do  you,  my  child,"  said  Mrs.  Boardman, 
moving  her  chair  close  to  that  of  her  daughter  and 
taking  one  of  the  small  white  hands  in  hers  ;  *'  I  feel 
as  you  do,  but  I  can  assign  no  reason  for  it.  To-mor- 
row the  vote  of  Texas  will  be  cast  for  secession,  and 
only  God  knows  what  will  follow.     Now,  more  than 


10  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

ever,  do  I  miss  your  father,  for  I  know  liow  ho  would 
vote  were  he  living." 

**Why,  mother,  I  cannot  see  the  necessity  for 
breaking  up  the  country.  I  am  sure  the  Yankees 
have  not  injured  us  ;  indeed,  I  quite  like  the  northeni 
people  whom  we  met  in  our  travels.  Why,  then, 
should  they  desire  to  break  up  the  country,  of  which 
since  my  childhood  I  have  been  so  proud,  and  every- 
body else  should  be?" 

"I  do  not  know,  Airy/^  wac  the  reply.  "The 
people  are  surely  crazed,  for  eveiy  man,  woman,  and 
child  whom  I  know  are  crying  for  secession,  and 
your  old  teacher  from  New  England,  Mrs.  Gasting,  is 
louder  in  her  denunciations  of  the  Yankees  than  any 
person  I  am  acquainted  with." 

The  usually  calm  face  of  the  girl  glowed  as  she 
said,  "  Mother,  all  will  not  vote  for  secession ;  I 
would  not  if  I  were  a  man.  There  is  one  who  is 
braver  and  stronger  and  cooler  than  are  the  men  in 
Brazoria,  and  to-morrow  Robert  will  teach  them  to 
do  right." 

* '  Men  will  not  be  guided  by  ideas  of  right,  my  child. 
The  bowie-knife  and  revolver  will  guide  the  ballot, 
and  Robert  would  be  reckless,  in  the  face  of  the 
Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  to  oppose  them.  Bet- 
ter he  should  stay  away,  for  I  do  not  think  to-mor- 
row will  see  the  end.  His  single  vote  would  avail 
nothing,  and  his  death  would  cause  a  world  of  harm." 

*'  Death  !  Would  they  kill  him,  mother,  for  being 
a  man  ?  Oh,  I  will  not  let  him  go ;  I  cannot  lose 
him.  But  if  I  were  a  man  I  would  vote,  in  spite  of 
Wharton  and  every  man  on  the  Brazos !" 

' '  I  feel  as  yjou  do,  my  daughter,"  said  Mrs.  Board* 


THE  LONE  STAR  STATE.  11 

man,  sitting  straight  in  her  chair  and  clasping  her 
hands  before  her.  "  But  if  there  be  any  truth  in  the 
papers  and  letters  I  receive  from  the  North,  the  bay- 
onets of  the  Union  will  be  used  against  the  ballots  of 
secession.    Let  Robert  reserve  himself  for  that." 

She  had  scarcely  concluded  her  sentence  when  two 
mounted  men  came  galloping  up  the  avenue  of  live 
oaks  leading  to  the  house.  They  rode  small,  w^iry 
mustangs,  accoutered  in  the  regular  Mexican  style, 
and  sat  their  horses  with  that  easy  grace  which  can 
only  be  acquired  by  a  life  in  the  saddle.  Riding 
close  to  the  hou?e,  both  men  dismounted,  and  they 
were  certainly  fine  specimens  of  their  respective 
races.  The  one  was  a  pure  Caucasian,  about  twenty- 
five  years  of  age,  standing  nearly  six  feet  in  height, 
and  with  that  ease  of  carriage  which  denotes  great 
strength  and  powers  of  endurance.  His  hair  was 
straight  and  black,  his  bronzed  face  strong  and  ex- 
pressive rather  than  handsome,  while  his  warm,  gi-ey 
eyes  seemed  full  of  that  strange  light  which  a  shade 
would  turn  to  dancing  smiles  or  burning  anger.  The 
other  was  a  negro,  who,  on  dismounting,  took  the 
bridle  from  his  master,  and  as  he  stood  with  a  hand 
on  the  reins  of  both  horses  he  could  pass  for  a  statue 
of  Hercules  cut  in  ebony.  He  was  over  thirty,  and 
taller  than  his  master ;  but  being  heavier,  the  dif- 
ference would  seem  at  first  the  other  way.  His  skin 
v,^as  jet  black,  and  his  features  full,  yet  well-pro- 
portioned. As  he  took  off  his  hat  to  salute  the  la- 
dies, his  thick,  woolly  hair  could  be  seen  curling 
around  a  head  that  would  prove  a  study  to  the  phren- 
ologist, for,  while  the  forehead  was  broad  and  promi- 
nent, the  rest  of  the  head  looked  like  a  black  globe. 


IJ  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

>^  the  young  white  man  bounded  up  the  steps  he 
was  met  by  Mrs.  Boardman  and  her  daughter  with 
a  Tranuth  that  showed  more  than  ordinary  interest. 
Throwing  oiT  his  broad-brimmed  sombrero,  he  ar- 
mpg'ed  seats  for  the  ladies,  and,  taking  one  for  him- 
self, an  expression  of  pain  came  into  his  face,  as, 
after  the  customary  greeting,  he  said : 

**I  have  been  all  along  the  bottom — at  Bell's, 
Townsend's,  Underwood's,  and  at  a  score  of  other 
places — and  I  find  but  few  men  who  are  not  going  to 
vote  for  secession  to-morrow.  The  majority,  I  think, 
are  opposed  to  it,  but  the  fear  of  Wharton  and  his 
clique  deters  them." 

"Is  it  true,  Bob ert,"  asked  Aaay,  *' that  they  are 
going  to  kill  those  who  do  not  vote  for  secession  to- 
morrow?" 

"I  do  not  know;  there  will  certainly  be  trouble. 
I  saw  a  card  on  the  court-house  in  Brazoria,  stating 
that  those  who  vote  for  Yankee  rule  must  do  it  in  the 
face  of  southern  steel.  I  suppose  by  '  Yankee  rule' 
Is  meant  in  favor  of  the  Union." 

* '  Then  all  will  vote  for  secession,"  said  Amy.  "  Oh ! 
if  I  were  a  man !" 

*'If  you  were.  Amy,"  was  his  reply,  *'what  could 
your  single  arm  do  ?  You  could  resist  by  a  vote,  and, 
God  giving  me  strength,  I  intend  to  do  that.'* 

*'Be  careful,  Robert,"  said  Mrs.  Boardman,  gaz- 
ing at  the  young  man  with  a  look  of  pride.  ' '  Re- 
member, more  will  be  required  of  you,  or  I  am 
mistaken,  than  mere  voting." 

' '  I  know  it,  Mrs.  Boardman  ;  and  if  Texas  leaves 
the  Union,  I  am  determined  to  leave  for  the  first 
rendezvous  of  Union  men,  and,  if  necessary,   fight, 


THE  LONE  STAR  STATE.  13 

for  I  am  convinced  war  will  follow  this  mad  course 
of  the  slave  States." 

*'Did  you  see  Henderson  Townsend  to-day?"  asked 
Amy.  Being  answered  in  the  negative,  she  contin- 
ued :  "He  was  here  and  poured  out  a  torrent  of  angry 
words  against  the  Yankees.  I  reminded  him  that 
both  he  and  his  father  were  bom  and  lived  in  Con- 
necticut till  a  few  years  since.  He  said  that  did  not 
make  him  an  abolitionist,  and  then  started  off  mut- 
tering vengeance  against  those  who  vote  for  Union 
to-morrow." 

Robert  Warren's  face  was  clouded  for  an  instant  as 
he  said,  ' '  Poor  fool,  he  is  true  to  his  instincts."  Then, 
changing  his  tone,  he  continued  :  "It  is  very  strange, 
but  there  is  not  one  person  of  northern  birth  in  this 
scc^'on  who  is  a  slave-owner  that  is  not  going  to  vote 
tor  secession  to-morrow." 

**  But  there  is  one  southern  man,"  said  Amy,  with 
flashing  eyes, ' '  and  he  is  a  South  Carolinian  by  birth, 
who  hates  their  actions,  and  who  will  oppose  them ! 
Oh,  Robert,  I  do,  I  do  feel  proud  of  you !" 

When  strong  emotions  move  the  heart,  or  great 
dangers  surround  us,  cold  etiquette  is  laid  aside, 
and  we  stand  face  to  face,  with  no  feelings  disguised. 
No  one  could  look  on  the  animated  face  of  the  young 
girl,  as  her  eyes  were  turned  on  Robert  Warren,  with- 
out feeling  that  a  deep,  pure  love  for  the  young  pa- 
triot stirred  her  heart.  But  there  is  a  love  higher 
than  that  which  connects  the  sexes ;  a  love  which 
forgets  all  personal  considerations  when  principles  are 
Involved;  a  love  which  causes  the  maiden  to  part 
with  the  adored  without  a  pang  of  regret;  a  love 
which  impels  the  mother  to  kiss  her  first-born  adi-^u 


14  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

and  send  him  into  the  ranks  of  death  ;  a  love  which 
exchanges  wealth  and  ease  and  luxury  for  poverty, 
hardships,  and  toil ;  a  love  which  elevates  man  to  the 
dignity  of  the  angels,  for  it  mocks  at  danger  and 
smiles  at  death.  It  is  the  soul-absorbing  love  of  our 
fatherland  and  our  country^s  flag,  and  such  in  all  its 
intensity  was  the  feeling  that  stirred  the  heart  of  Amy 
Boardman. 

After  a  few  more  words,  Robert  Warren  rose  to  go, 
promising  to  return  on  the  following  evening  and  re- 
port affairs  at  Brazoria.  Then,  with  tender  entreat- 
ies from  Amy,  and  kind  messages  to  his  family  from 
Mrs.  Boardman,  he  and  his  servant  sprang  on  their 
horses  and  were  soon  galloping  over  the  small  arm 
of  prairie  which  separated  Mrs.  Boardman's  from  his 
father's  plantation. 

Archy,  for  such  was  the  black  man's  name,  broke 
silence  as  he  slackened  the  pace  of  his  horse. 

"MaussBobut,  is  yeh  g^vine  to  de  vil'ge  to-mor- 
row, shuah?*' 

"Why  do  you  ask,  Archy?" 

**  Coz,  if  yeh  is,  sah,  I'd  like  to  go,  mighty." 

*  *  But  why  to-morrow  any  more  than  any  other  day  ?" 

**Wall,  Mauss  Bobut,  I  dunno.  'Pears  tings  ain't 
agoin'  right,  nohow.  Hen  Townsend,  he's  agoin'  to  be 
dar,  an'  he  don't  like  yeh  much,  I  reckon,  coz  of  Miss 
Amy,  an'  he  tole  Watts,  his  boy,  he'd  make  yeh 
squirm  yet.  An'  den,  Mauss  Bobut,  dare's  Wharton, 
him  and  Hen  goes  togedder,  an'  dey's  agoin'  to  shoot 
all  wat  don't  go  wid  dem," 

Having  said  this,  Archy  looked  earnestly  into  his 
master's  face,  as  if  to  see  the  effect  of  his  statements 

*'But,  supposing  all  this  to  be  true,  and  they  were 


THE  LONE  STAR  STATE.  15 

going  to  shoot  me,  Archy,  what  good  could  you  do?" 
The  eyes  of  the  black  man  widened  till  the  whites 

were  visible  around  them,  and,  straightening  himself 

up  in  the  stirrups,  he  said  : 

"Mauss   Robut,  yeh   knows  I  ain't   skeery ;  yeh 

knows  I  kin  shoot,  an'  den,  Mauss  Robut,  if  dey  kills 

yeh,  I  don't  want  to  lib  nohow.     Dey  kin  shoot  me 

fust.    Do  let  me  go,  mauss,"  and  the  last  words  were 

uttered  in  the  most  appealing  tones. 

"I  will  see  about  it  in  the  morning,  Archy,"  said 

his  master  as  he  threw  him  the  bridle  rein  and  strode 

hastily  into  the  house,  which  by  this  time  they  had 

reached. 


CHAPTEE  II. 


AT    THE   POLLS. 

Brazoria  is  very  pleasantly  situated  on  the  Bra- 
zos River,  and  had  in  1861  about  one  thousand  inhab- 
itants. Around  it  is  the  largest  sugar  and  cotton 
portion  of  the  State,  and  consequently  it  had  the 
largest  slave  population. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  February  23,  1861,  scores 
of  stalwart  horsemen,  armed  to  the  teeth,  could  be 
seen  moving  in  on  the  different  roads,  and  dismount- 
ing to  fasten  their  horses  to  the  racks  around  the 
white  frame  com-t-house,  in  the  center  of  the  town. 
Each  rider  carried  a  heavy  whip  or  "quirt,"  in  addi- 
tion to  his  ponderous,  jingling  spurs.  About  the 
principal  tavern  the  men  crowded,  where  liquor  was 
provided  in  abundance  by  some  of  the  wealthy  men 
of  the  town.  It  was  noticeable  to  see  the  groups 
of  anxious-looking  faces,  the  majority  in  the  prime 
of  life,  and  it  was  rare  to  see  one  whose  form  did  not 
denote  great  strength  and  activity.  The  dress  was 
more  uniform  than  is  ever  seen  outside  of  regularly- 
dressed  organizations.  Long  boots  with  the  pants 
inside,  belts  with  pistols  and  knife  protruding  beyond 
the  short-cut  jackets,  shirts  open  at  the  neck,  witJ* 


AT  THE  POLLS.  17 

loose  sailor  ties,  and  stift'Mexican  sombreros,  or  broad- 
brimmed,  slouched  felt  hats,  tmned  up  with  a  defiant 
air  in  front,  was  the  usual  costume.  With  few  excep- 
tions, their  faces  were  heavily  bearded,  and  the  hair 
worn  in  long  masses  down  to  the  shoulders.  There 
was  but  little  intelligence  in  the  group  of  animal  faces. 
They  were  indicative  of  strong  machines,  that  would 
move  with  effect  if  the  power  were  applied,  and  fur- 
nished. They  could  follow,  not  lead,  and  to  such 
men  the  words  of  those  they  followed  were  oracular. 

As  each  emerged  from  the  room,  rough  jokes  and 
loud  laughter  greeted  him,  or  the  oft-repeated  query, 
**Say,  what' 11  yeh  take  fer  yer  boss?  I'm  goin'  to 
raise  a  cavalry  company  to  fight  the  d — d  abolition- 
ists?" 

Often  the  new-comer  would  be  greeted  with  the 
question,  "  Say,  how  are  you  going  to  vote  to-day?" 
and  invariably  the  reply  came  back  and  was  greeted 
with  wild  cheers,  "For  secession,"  or  "Against  the 
infernal  Yankees  I " 

One  of  these  last  arrivals  was  a  young  man  who 

might  pass  for  any  age  between  twenty-five  and  fifty. 

He    was   long,  and   cadaverous-looking,    with    thin, 

reddish  beard  and  watery  blue  eyes.  Fastening  his 

horse,  he  entered  the  bar-room,  and,  sitting  on  the 

counter  so  as  to  face  the  crowd,  he  appeared  to  slide 

into  himself  like  a  telescope,  the  bent,  thick  body 

presenting  a  queer  contrast  to  the  long,  thin  legs. 

Turning  to  the  hard-worked  bar-tender,  he  asked  for  a 

glass  of    whisky,   which,    being  provided,   he   held 

out  at  arm's  length,  and  in  a  cracked  and  somewhat 

nasal  tone  said : 

2* 


18  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

**Fels,  Pve  a  toast  to  propose,  and  cuss  him  what 
don't  drink  it !" 

"Let's  have  it,  Hen !"  "Hurrah!"  "Go  in,  ole 
boy  !  "  were  the  greetings  that  met  his  announcement. 

"Here's  success  to  secession,  an'  a  bullet  for  every 
feller  that  casts  a  ballot  agin'  it." 

A  loud  cheer  went  up  from  the  crowd,  and  a 
swarthy  giant,  who  drank  the  toast  in  a  tumbler  of 
raw  whisky,  wiped  his  lips  with  his  coat-sleeve,  and^ 
striking  the  man  addressed  as  "  Hen  "  on  the  shoulder 
with  his  open  hand,  he  shouted  out,  "I'd  like  ter  see 
the  chap  what  objects  to  them  'ere  sentiments." 

"Well,  then,"  said  Henderson  Townsend,  who  by 
this  time  had  stepped  to  the  door,  "  if  yeh  look  down 
the  street  ye' 11  see  one.  There  comes  Bob  Warren, 
and  I'll  bet  a  thousand  dollars  to  a  quirt  that  he 
votes  agin'  us.  Why,  he's  gone  plumb  over  to  the 
abolitionists." 

A  hoarse  din  of  threats  followed  this  announcement, 
but  it  gradually  sank  into  a  murmur  as  the  object  of 
To^vnsend's  remark  drew  near,  and  into  silence  as 
he  dismounted  before  the  tavern  and  fastened  his 
horse  to  the  commodious  rack. 

"  Come  in  an'  drink,  Warren,"  said  Townsend, 
"come  in'  an  di'ink;  Wharton's  stood  a  big  treat 
to-day." 

"  I  thank  you,  sir,"  said  Warren,  "but  I  do  not  wish 
to  drink." 

"  What,  not  drink  success  to  our  cause?" 

"  I  do  not  know  you  or  your  cause,  sir,"  said  Warren 
as  he  passed  into  the  building.  Going  up  stairs,  he 
knocked  at  a  door  with  a  peculiar  rap,  and  was 
admitted  into  a  room  where  five  men  were  sitting 


AT  THE  POLLS.  19 

around  a  small  table.  Their  faces  had  a  troubled 
look,  but  there  was  an  intelligence  and  determination 
stamped  on  each,  in  striking  contrast  with  the  crowd 
of  fierce  faces  outside. 

"  Mr.  Williams,  I  am  glad  to  see  you  and  the  rest 
of  our  friends  here,"  said  Robert  Warren,  as  he  took 
a  chair.  "  If  I  mistake  not,  there  is  dangerous  duty 
before  us  to-day." 

"  True,  Mr.  Warren,"  said  the  gentleman  addressed 
as  Williams,  "but  we  must  undertake  it  like  men. 
Wharton's  party,  I  understand,  intend  surrounding 
the  polls,  and  they  swear  to  shoot  every  man  voting 
against  secession.  We  cannot  resist  them  by  force, 
but  by  a  calm  and  detemiined  demand  for  the  right 
of  voting  as  we  choose,  I  think  we  can  succeed. 
This  threat  ^vill  deter  many  from  voting  with  us  who 
I  am  certain  are  opposed  to  disunion.  Let  us  hope 
that  seeing  our  course  they  may  take  courage  and 
rally  around  us." 

Agi'eeiiig  to  return  to  the  room  again  before  voting, 
the  little  party  descended  and  mingled  with  the  crowd* 

About  nme  o'clock  a  tall,  middle-aged  man,  with 
light  hair,  and  full,  reddish  beard,  rode  up  to  the 
ta;k^ern,  accompanied  by  a  servant.  He  was  greeted 
with  loud  cheers,  which  he  acknowledged  by  remov- 
ing his  hat  and  bowing.  There  could  be  seen  the 
broad,  white  forehead,  and  deep  blue  eyes,  which,  in 
connection  with  his  straight  nose  and  thin,  firm  lips> 
bespoke  the  man  of  power.  On  dismounting  he  was 
surrounded  by  the  crowd,  each  anxious  to  grasp  his 
hand,  and  he  blended  with  them  without  being  one 
of  them.  His  name  will  live  as  that  of  an  able, 
brave,  misguided  man,  John  Wharton,  leader  of  the 


20  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Texas  Rangers  in  the  war  against  liis  country. 

After  conversing  with  a  group  of  the  more  intelli- 
gent men  for  some  time,  it  was  decided  before 
opening  the  polls  to  hold  a  meeting  in  the  court- 
house, over  which  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  then 
floating.  This  intention  was  announced,  and  the 
building  was  soon  packed  to  its  utmost  capacity,  and 
scores  of  faces  peered  in  through  the  windows  and 
doors.  Wharton,  amid  great  applause,  was  conducted 
to  the  judge's  chair,  before  which  as  a  lawyer  he  had 
often  pleaded.  After  the  formality  of  electing  proper 
officers  to  conduct  the  meeting,  "  Colonel  "  Wharton 
was  introduced,  and  advanced  to  the  desk  with 
apparent  embarrassment. 

"Fellow  Texans,'*  he  began,  *'we  have  assembled 
in  Erazoria  to-day  to  decide,  so  far  as  we  are  con- 
cerned, one  of  the  most  important  questions  ever  sub- 
mitted to  any  people — that  of  being  an  independent 
South,  or  a  servile  collection,  of  States,  'neath  the 
crushing  heel  of  a  despot.  When  we  threw  off  the 
yoke  of  Mexico  we  were  glad  and  proud,  after  a  short 
period  of  national  independence,  to  link  our  fate  with 
what  was  then  the  great  United  States — great  no  lon- 
ger in  the  esteem  of  free  men.  Once  this  land  was 
governed  by  true  patriots,  who  had  the  interest  of 
the  whole  country  at  heart ;  now  the  power  is  \\Test- 
ed  from  their  keeping,  and  in  their  places  stand  not 
our  rulers,  but  tyrants — men  who  would  rob  us  of  our 
property,  free  oiu-  slaves,  and  place  them  on  an  equal- 
ity with  us,  with  you,  my  countrymen  !  Yes,  and  urge 
this  evil  on  till  the  negroes  who  now  work  in  our  fields 
become  aspirants  for  the  hands  of  our  sisters  and 
our   daughters!      Are   you   willing   that   this   thing 


AT  THE  POLLS.  21 

should  be?  Will  you  lie  passive  while  the  chains 
are  being  forged  to  enslave  you  ?  And  will  you  still 
cling  close  like  cowards  to  what  is  not  the  govern- 
ment of  your  choice?" 

*'No!  no!"  "Never!  never?"  rang  through  the 
building,  and  faces  began  to  flush,  while  the  eyes  of 
the  excited  mob  glared  like  those  of  wild  beasts. 

*'I  rejoice  to  hear  you  say  *No!'  "  he  continued, 
"but  where  can  we  find  a  remedy  for  this  evil  which 
threatens  us?  It  is  not  to  be  purchased  from  our 
abolition  rulers.  We  cannot  become  exiles  and  seek 
freedom  in  other  lands.  We  hold  the  power  in  our 
own  hands,  and  woe  be  to  us  if  we  use  it  not.  By 
this  I  do  not  mean  that  we  are  to  go  out  to  battle, 
for  if  Texas  acts  as  she  should  to-day,  there  will  be 
no  foe  to  battle  with.  Already  five  of  our  sister  States 
have  gone  out,  and  from  their  happy  eminence  beckon 
us  to  follow. 

* '  Are  you  ready,  are  you  willing  to  go  ?"  * '  We 
are,  we  are!"  came  in  thundering  response.  "Then 
if  you  are,  let  your  votes  corroborate  your  words,  and 
should  the  cowardly  negro-stealers  of  the  North  retard 
our  efforts  in  going  out,  or  our  peace  in  remaining  out 
of  such  a  Union,  so  help  me  God,  I  will  be  one 
of  a  hundred  thousand  Texan  rangers  to  spring  to 
the  rescue  of  the  'Lone  Star'  State  !  With  fire  and 
sword  we  will  sweep  down  on  the  homes  of  the  fanat- 
ical Puritans  and  wring  from  their  black  hearts  retri- 
bution for  our  many  wrongs  and  indignities.  But  I 
fear  no  war.  Mark  my  words,  we  will  depart  in  peace. 
Every  slave  State  will  follow  us,  and  we  vrill  build  us 
up  a  model  nation,  where  the  white  and  the  black  man 
will  be  protected,  and  each  occupy  the  position  God 


22  WARREX  OF  TEXAS. 

intend sd  him  for.  A  nation  that  can  and  will  carry 
out  the  principles  for  which  our  forefathers  bled,  a 
nation  that  all  can  love,  and  whose  emblem  I  now 
show  you — " 

Saying  this,  he  unfurled  a  rich  flag  with  three  par- 
allel bars,  red,  white  and  red,  and  on  the  blue  square 
of  the  upper  left,  the  *'lone  star"  of  Texas.  Cheer 
after  cheer  greeted  this  emblem  of  a  shadowy  nation- 
ality. 

"If,"  said  "Wharton,  raisins^  his  voice  to  its  hidi- 
est  pitch,  "  this  flag  is  your  choice,  haul  dow^n  from, 
above  your  head,  where  now  it  floats,  the  flaimting 
banner  of  infamy,  and  give  the  banner  of  liberty 
and  a  united  South  to  the  winds  of  Texas !" 

The  climax  was  reached.  Through  the  open  win- 
dows and  doors  the  maddened  mob  pounced  out,  and 
two  of  the  most  active  were  quickly  on  the  roof  pulling 
down,  the  flag.  As  soon  as  it  reached  their  gi-asp  it 
was  torn  from  the  halliards  and  tlirowm  to  the  crowd 
beneath.  While  the  "stars  and  bars"  were  being 
hoisted,  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  torn  to  shreds  with 
drunken  rage  and  trampled  in  the  dust. 

A  group  of  anxious-looking  men,  at  a  distance* 
watched  this  scene.  Not  a  word  was  spoken,  nor  did 
any  of  the  number  stir,  till  "Colonel"  Wharcon 
shouted  out,  "To  the  polls!"  and  the  crowd  surged- 
tow^ard  the  tavern.  After  all  had  gone,  Robert  War 
ren  advanced,  and,  gathering  the  tattered  remnants  of 
the  flag,  hurriedly  placed  them  in  his  breast,  and 
then  with  his  friends  returned  to  the  room  in  the 
tavern,  w^iicli  they  had  left  to  attend  the  meeting. 
After  closing  the  door,  Mr.  Williams,  with  a  pale  face 
and  in  smothered  accents,  began  ; 


AT  THE  POLLS.  23 

"Friends,  we  should  have  expected  this.  The  mob 
is  perfectly  frantic.  We  are  here  and  cannot  escape 
voting,  though  it  is  useless.  Let  us  wait  till  Whar- 
ton's party  is  scattered,  then  go  forward  and  do  our 
duty." 

He  ceased,  and  silence,  broken  only  by  the  heavy 
breathing  of  the  men,  reigned  in  the  apartment. 

After  some  minutes,  Kobert  Warren  pulled  out  the 
tattered  colors,  and,  gazing  on  them  with  a  burning 
look,  said : 

"  Had  I  been  told  yesterday  that  I  would  standby 
and  see  this  flag  hauled  down  and  trampled  in  the 
dust,  I  would  have  pronounced  the  assertion  false. 
Yet  to-day  I  saw  it,  and  did  not  resist.  Here  is  one 
star  untom— let  it  be  to  us  the  emblem  of  hope.  Rise, 
every  man  here,  few  though  we  be,  and  Iny  his  hands 
on  these  shreds ! "  All  did  as  he  desired.  "Now 
swear  with  me,"  he  continued,  "that  come  what  may, 
though  property  be  sacrificed  and  homes  smTendered, 
we  will  be  faithful  till  death  to  this  flag,  nor  rest  till 
it  returns  again  to  the  Brazos." 

The  hands  were  raised  and  each  reponded,  **I 
swear."  4 

In  heaven  that  oath  was  registered  with  the  sons 
of  the  martjTs  and  approved  by  Him  who  presides 
over  the  destmies  of  nations. 

About  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  voting, 
which  had  all  gone  one  way,  was  nearly  finished,  and 
Robert  Warren,  followed  by  his  party,  advanced  to 
the  polls.  He  was  met  by  Tow^isend,  who  handed 
him  a  ballot,  and  he  replied  by  tearing  it  up,  saying, 
*'I  have  one  of  my  own." 

"Let  me  see  it,"  asked  Townsend  in  a  rude  voice. 


24  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Robert  "Warren  did  so,  when  Townsend  glanced  at  it, 
then  tearing  it  in  pieces,  with  a  savage  oath  shouted 
out:  "Warren  an' his  party  is  goin'  to  vote  agin 
us !      Who'  11  Stan'  by  an'  see  it  done  ?" 

The  Intoxicated  by-standers,  with  angry  menaces, 
drew  near,  and  more  than  one  knife  was  unsheathed. 
WaiTen  coolly  looked  over  the  crowd,  and  in  a  clear, 
strong  voice  said : 

"The  man  who  says  I  am  going  to  vote  against  my 
country,  or  in  favor  of  abolition,  lies.  But  before  I  can 
vote  for  secession  I  want  first  to  see  where  we  have  been 
wronged.  I  have  negi'oes,  as  many  as  any  of  you ;  I 
am  a  southern  man  by  birth  and  interests ;  but  I  owe 
allegiance  to  the  whole  country  and  not  a  part,  and 
for  that  whole  country  I  am  going  to  vote.  If  you 
prevent  me,  why,  then,  have  the  formality  of  voting?" 

Warren  moved  toward  the  polls,  but  To\Misend 
stepped  before  him,  and  with  an  oath  said : 

"Not  so  fast  sir,  yeh  votes  here  when  yeh  votes 
right— not  till  then  !" 

"Stand  aside,  Townsend !"  commanded  Warren, 
his  grey  eyes  turning  black  with  anger  ;  "I  wish  no 
quarrel,  but  am  determined."  Turaing  to  the  crowd 
he  hurriedly  addressed  them  :  "  I  appeal  to  every  man 
here — for  you  all  know  me — is  there  a  stain  on  my 
good  name  ?  Did  you  ever  know  me  to  do  aught  an 
honest  man  would  blush  for?  Can  you  say  as  much  for 
this  wretch,  who  pushes  himself  forward  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  better  men  ?  You  know  I  am  honest  in 
my  actions.     Now,  Townsend,  stand  aside  !" 

Warren  stepped  forward,  but  a  violent  push  sent 
him  staggering  back  among  the  crowd. 

He  recovered  m  an  instant,  and  with  a  spring  like 


AT  THE  POLLS.  25 

a  tiger-cat,  and  a  blow  that  sounded  like  the  discharge 
of  a  pistol,  Townsend  was  thrown  senseless  to  the 
ground,  and  Warren,  with  his  friends,  stepped  forward 
to  deposit  their  ballots,  which,  as  tln-oughout  the 
State  and  throughout  the  South,  were  not  counted, 
for  they  were  against  secession.  After  voting,  the 
Union  men  retraced  their  steps  through  the  crowd  in 
the  direction  of  their  horses,  but  found  to  their  sur- 
prise the  animals  were  gone,  and  could  not  be  found. 
After  a  fruitless  search,  Warren  inquired  from  the 
bystanders  if  they  had  seen  the  horses  moved,  but  he 
received  in  reply  only  black  looks  and  muttered 
threats  that  "He  and  his  damned  pack  would  soon 
learn  all  about  it," 


CHAPTER   III 


WAYLAID. 

After  a  vain  attempt  to  find  their  horses,  the  little 
body  of  Union  men  determined  to  walk  home — first, 
however,  agreeing  to  meet  at  the  plantation  of  Mr. 
"Warren  on  the  following  morning. 

Eobert  had  about  five  miles  to  walk,  but  the  greater 
part  of  the  road  lay  tlirough  the  densely  wooded  bot- 
tom-land between  Brazoria  and  Gronzelletta.  South- 
ern men  before  the  war  were  unaccustomed  to  trav- 
eling on  foot,  particularly  the  Texans,  who  often  rode 
over  distances  where  it  would  be  less  of  a  physical 
exertion  to  walk  than  to  saddle  a  horse.  As  Robert 
"Warren  hurried  westward  along  this  forest  road,  he 
wondered  at  the  strange  circumstance  of  all  their 
horses  being  taken,  and  felt  there  was  more  in  it  than 
the  spiteful  tripk  of  a  few  drunken  rowdies.  He  re- 
gretted that  he  had  not  invited  his  friends  home  with 
him,  where  they  could  procure  a  remount,  as  they 
had  all  further  to  walk  than  himself,  though  not  in 
the  same  direction.  Looking  carefully  about  as  he 
hastened  on,  and  peering  cautiously  into  the  jungle, 
he  had  passed  over  one-half  the  distance  between 
Brazoria  and  his  home,  when,  turning  a  sharp  bend 


WAYLAID.  27 

in  the  road,  he  heard  the  crack  of  a  rifle  and  at  the 
same  instant  felt  a  burning  sensation  along  the  top  of 
his  head,  and  a  feeling  of  blind  giddiness  overcame 
him.  He  staggered  and  fell  to  the  ground,  and  be- 
fore he  could  recover,  three  men  rushed  from  the 
woods  and  sprang  upon  him.  A  blow  was  aimed  at 
his  head,  but  through  the  blood  that  streamed  over 
his  face  he  saw  it  descending,  and,  summoning  all 
his  strength,  he  leaped  to  his  feet  to  see  before  him 
Henderson  Townsend,  with  a  look  of  fiendish  hate  on 
his  brutal  face. 

"Kill  the  infernal  abolitionist!"  shouted  Town- 
send,  striking  with  a  long  knife  at  the  wounded  man . 
All  three  rushed  again  upon  Warren,  and,  before  he 
could  draw  his  pistol,  he  was  a  second  time  brought 
to  the  ground,  and  one  of  the  assassins,  with  a  raised 
knife,  sprang  upon  him.  He  could  see  the  cold  gleam 
above  him,  as  the  murderer's  arm  was  extended  to 
give  fatal  force  to  the  blow,  and  Warren  closed  his 
eyes.  It  was  but  an  instant,  when  a  yell,  that  thrilled 
the  prostrate  man  into  life,  arrested  the  descending 
arm,  and  the  next  moment  the  blood  of  the  would- 
be  murderer  was  dashed,  by  a  powerful  blow  from 
behind,  over  the  intended  victim.  Another  blow, 
quick  as  lightning,  and  a  second  man  fell.  Town- 
send  turned  on  the  new-comer,  but  his  arm  became 
palsied  and  his  knees  shook  as  he  saw  before  him  the 
towering  form  of  Archy.  The  wide  nostrils  were 
dilated,  the  white  teeth  gleamed  through  the  open 
lips,  and  a  look  of  heroic  manhood  transformed  the 
negi'o  into  the  master  of  the  cowering  white  man. 

Before  Robert  Warren  could  rise,  the  strong  black 
hand  was  clutched  around  the  throat  of  Townsend, 


28  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

and,  blackening  in  the  face,  tlie  white  man  wilted  and 
fell ;  but  the  grasp  was  not  relaxed.  A  few  seconds 
and  life  would  have  been  extinct,  had  not  Robert 
WaiTcn  rose  and  released  the  hold  of  his  servant. 

"Stop,  Archy  !  God  bless  you,  my  brave  boy  I  you 
have  saved  me  ;  you  have  done  enough  !" 

*'Bress  de  Lor',  Mauss  Eobut,  yeh's  'live  !"  said 
Archy,  clasping  in  his  strong  arms  the  form  of  his 
master.  Then  he  fairly  sobbed,  "  Teh's  bleedin',  oh, 
poor  Mauss  Robut !  But  let  me  'lone,  dey'll  kill  me 
for  dis,  an'  I'll  have  something  to  hang  for."  Saying 
this,  he  moved  toward  Townsend,  but  his  master 
stopped  him  by  interposing  between  him  and  the 
trembling  wretch. 

"Well,  you  cringing  hound,"  said  Warren,  address- 
ing Townsend,  *'  you  did  not  succeed  in  your  murder- 
ous undertaking,  thanks  to  this  brave  boy  !  I  now 
know  who  stole  our  horses,  and  what  they  were  stolen 
for." 

"Wall,"  whined  Townsend,  *'we  hid  'em.  Whar- 
ton told  us  to.  But  you'll  pay  for  this  ;  you'll  swing 
for  a  killin'  of  these  fellers,"  and  he  pointed  to  the 
bleeding  forms  before  him. 

"You  know  you  lie,  when  you  say  Wharton  di- 
rected this — with  all  his  faults,  he  is  brave  and 
honorable.  But,  as  you  threaten  me,  I  think  it 
prudent  to  complete  this  job."  So  saying,  Robert 
Warren  cocked  his  pistol  and  placed  it  against  Town- 
send's  bead.  The  craven  fell  on  his  knees,  and,  in  a 
whining  supplication,  called,  *'0h,  don't!  don't,  Mr. 
Warren  !  It  was  all  a  drunken  spree,  and  we  didn't 
mean  to  do  any  harm.'* 

*'Iwas  only  trying  your  mettle,  Townsend,"  said 


WAYLAID.  29 

Warren,  as  he  replaced  his  pistol.  *'  Now  I  will  leave 
you  to  care  for  your  friends ;  and  if  we  ever  meet 
again  with  weapons  drawn,  your  lies  and  supplications 
will  not  save  you." 

Leaving  Townsend,  with  one  of  his  companions 
dead  and  the  other  severely  wounded,  Robert  Warren 
and  his  servant  hurried  along  the  forest  road,  now 
rapidly  growing  indistinct.  The  sun  had  set,  and 
dense  masses  of  black  clouds  came  sweeping  up  from 
the  Gulf,  deepening  the  shadows  on  the  road.  When 
they  emerged  from  the  woods,  on  the  edge  of  the 
prairie  stretching  to  Gonzelletta,  they  found  thousands 
of  cattle  and  deer  running  to  the  bottom  for  shelter 
from  the  storm,  which  instinct  told  them  would  soon 
burst  over  the  plain. 

Robert  released  his  hold  of  the  black  man's  arm, 
and  stood  with  uncovered  head,  while  the  cooling 
wind  came,  grateful  to  burning  forehead  and  throbbing 
temples.  Archy  saw  the  dejected  look  of  his  master, 
and  asked,  anxiously : 

**Is  yeh  sick,  Mauss  Robut?  Coz,  iv  yeh  is,  I'll  go 
ahead  to  de  ranche  an'  fotch  yeh  a  boss ;  or,  Mauss 
Robut,  I'll  tote  yeh  home  like  a  chile."  As  Archy 
spoke  the  last  words,  he  held  out  his  strong  arms,  as 
if  to  lift  his  young  master. 

"  No,  Archy,  I  feel  strong  enough,  but  I  am  troubled. 
This  affair  with  Townsend  will  get  wind  before  two 
hours,  and  the  whole  settlement  will  be  armed  against 
us,  and  should  they  catch  either  of  us,  I  am  afraid, 
Archy,  we  would  not  bring  a  big  price  next  day,  ex- 
cept for  the  dissecting  table."  Robert  Warren  tried 
to  smile  at  his  own  v/ords. 

"  I  Imowsdat,  Mauss  Robut,"  said  Archy;  "Iknows 
3  + 


80  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

dey*d  hang  us,  sliiiah,  but  I'se  ready.  I'd  a  wanted 
to  die  long  'go  iv  I'd  any  odder  mausser,  praise  de 
Lor*;  but  ole  mauss  an' you  ain't  like  white  folks; 
yeh's  like  angels.  Dis  mornin'  I  couldn't  stay  at  de 
house,  fur  I  know'd  dey'd  be  trouble  in  de  town.  So 
I  stoled  off,  an'  all  day  I  looked  fur  yeh,  as  I  hid  by 
de  road  in  de  chaparral,  [thicket.  ]  An'  when  I  seed 
you  comin'  I  wuz  mighty  glad,  an'  kep'  dark  in  de 
woods.  Oh,  Mauss  Robut,  I  tanks  de  good  Lor'  I'se 
been  de  way  to  save  yeh." 

"Yes,  I  must  acknowledge  you  understood  matters 
yesterday  better  than  I  did,  Archy,  though  it  looks 
as  if  you  had  only  postponed  my  death  a  few  hours." 

During  the  conversation  the  men  resumed  their 
journey,  and  as  they  neared  Mr.  Warren's  plantation 
an  idea  of  some  weight  seemed  to  strike  Archy,  for 
he  took  his  master's  arm,  that  rested  on  his,  in  both 
his  hands,  and  said :  "I  kin  fix  it,  Mauss  Robut,  I 
kin  fix  it ;  an'  iv  I  dies,  won't  yeh  take  good  care  of 
Susy  and  de  pickaninnies  ?" 

The  deep  breast  of  the  black  man  heaved  as  he 
looked  on  the  dejected  form  of  his  master,  and  in  a 
tone  soft  and  gentle  as  a  woman's,  he  continued : 

^' Don't  trouble,  Mauss  Robut.  Eberyting'll  come 
right  bimeby.  Nobody  '11  b'lieve  Hen  Townsend,  an' 
den  I'll  say  'twasn't  you  ;  I'll  say  I  did  it,  an'  I  won't 
lie,  nudder." 

''Stop  Archy!  Don't  talk  in  that  way.  The  men 
who  injure  you  for  w^hat  you  have  done  must  do  it 
after  I  am  helpless.  I  have  made  up  my  mind, 
Archy.  "We  must  not  remain  here,  not  even  to-night. 
We  must  start  north  for  Kentucky,  and  wlteu  there, 
Archy,  I'll  make  you  a  freeman.  You  can  hp.  your 
own  master." 


WAYLAID.  31 

**Mau5s  Robut,  I  ain't  done  nothin'  dat  you  want 
me  to  lebe  yeh  ?    I  don't  want  no  mausser  but  you  !'* 

"Well,  Archy,  I  don't  mean  that  by  being  free  you 
must  leave  me ;  you  can  be  with  me  as  you  are  now. 
I  think,  Archy,  if  I  get  away  safely,  that  I  will  be  a 
soldier,  and  fight  till  we  bring  the  old  flag  back  to 
the  Brazos." 

Poor  Archy,  he  had  none  of  his  master's  patriotic 
ardor.   Why  should  he  ?   All  flags  were  alike  to  him. 

Yet  when  his  master  had  ceased  speaking,  tears 
were  streaming  down  the  honest  black  face.  They 
were  not  forced  by  sorrow  or  pain,  but  rose  from  the 
great  warm  heart,  the  expression  of  a  love  that  few 
but  the  angels  feel. 

By  the  time  they  had  reached  Mr.  Warren's  house 
the  night  was  pitchy  black.  The  w^ind  had  calmed 
down,  and  an  ominous  stillness  reigned  over  forest 
and  plain.  It  lasted  but  a  few  minutes — then  the 
pent-up  storm  burst  over  the  land  with  a  fury  unknown 
to  colder  latitudes.  Rapid  flashes  of  lightning  for 
a  moment  illuminated  the  broad,  lifeless  prairie,  and 
then,  as  if  all  the  parks  of  heaven's  artillery  were 
opened,  the  deep  thunder  shook  the  earth.  A  few 
seconds  of  a  rushing  sound,  and  in  torrents  the  rain 
poured  to  the  earth.  The  harmony  of  the  elements, 
like  the  laws  of  the  nation,  seemed  broken.  It  looked 
as  if  the  land  were  draped  in  mourning  for  the  coun- 
try's death. 

It  was  on  such  a  night  the  Egyptians  sank  to  peaceful 
rest,  strong,  prosperous,  and  happy — the  youth  to 
dream  of  coming  glory,  the  old  man  to  think  of  easy 
age,  the  maiden  to  sigh  in  her  very  happiness,  the 
babe  to  slumber  in  childish  innocence.     But  for  one 


32  WAREEN  OF  TEXAS. 

instant  in  the  dark  night  '*  a  shadowy  flash  was  seen.' 
The  death  angel  breathed  on  the  first-born  slumbering 
in  life ;  then  the  red  lips  paled,  the  breast  heaved 
once,  and  the  eyelids  tightened  for  the  sleep  of  death. 
So,  deluded  sunny  South,  it  was  with  thee.  Thy 
future  shone  bright  and  prosperous,  while  visions  of 
power  and  glory  flushed  thy  youths,  and  gave  vigor  to 
thy  old  men.  Thy  maidens  twined  chaplets  for  their 
warrior  lovers,  and  poets  sang  the  praises  of  thy 
da^vning  greatness.  But  the  night  went  by,  and  the 
morning  brought  wailing  for  thy  first-born.  Thy 
strong  men  fill  the  grave  and  thy  daughters  are  clad 
in  sable  garb.  In  the  Red  Sea  thy  armies  have 
perished,  and  from  the  opposite  bank  hosannas  re- 
sound from  the  free — made  so  by  thy  acts — ^yet  sing- 
ing no  glad  song  in  thy  praise. 


CniPTER  IV. 


TilE   PAELOR   AND    THE   CABIN. 

On  Opening  the  door,  Robert  Warren  was  met  by 
his  only  sister,  Mary,  a  young  lady  of  twenty,  who 
screamed  on  seeing  the  blood-covered  features  and 
torn  clothing  of  her  brother.     He  quieted  her,  beg- 
ging her  not  to  mention  it  to  his  father  and  mother, 
and  assuring  her  that  a  wash  would  set  him  all  right. 
He  went   directly  to  his   room,   and,  after  bathing, 
found  that  he  had  a  painful,  but  by  no  means  danger- 
ous,  scalp   wound   on  the   right   side   of  his  head. 
Having  changed  his  clothing,  he  took  down  from  a 
peg  in  his  room  a  pair  of  handsome  Mexican  saddle- 
bags, and  filled  them  with  such  articles  as  he  would 
need  on   his   contemplated  journey.     Unlocking  a 
drawer  in  his  dressing-stand,  he  took  from  it  an  ivory- 
cased  miniature,  which  he  opened,  and,  removing  the 
cm-l  of  brown  hair  twined  above  the  picture,  his  face 
softened  as  he  gazed  for  a  few  moments  on  the  por. 
trait  of  Amy  Boardman.     Then  he  replaced  the  curl 
and  deposited  the  case  in  his  breast  pocket.     Picking 
up  the  torn,  blood-stained  coat  which  he  had  taken 
off,  he  took  from  one  of  the  pockets  the  roll  of  red, 
white,  and  blue  rags  that  had  once  been  the  flag  of 


34  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

the  stars,  and  as  he  carefully  placed  them  in  the 
pocket  with  the  picture  his  lips  grew  firmer  and  an 
expression  of  age  came  over  his  face.  He  next  took 
down  from  the  mantel-piece,  over  which  it  hung,  a 
short,  silver-mounted  rifle,  and  fastened  about  his 
waist  a  belt  containing  two  pistols,  cap  and  cartridge- 
boxes,  besides  a  scabbard,  from  which  protruded  the 
silver  handle  of  a  Mexican  hunting-knife.  Having 
prepared  everything  so  as  to  be  ready  to  start  in  a 
moment,  Robert  Warren  descended  to  the  supper 
room,  where  his  father,  mother,  and  sister  were 
awaiting  him. 

Mrs.  Warren  was  very  pale,  and  evidently  agitated 
as  she  heard  her  son's  steps,  for  she  met  him  at  the 
door  and  was  clasped  in  his  strong  arms. 

*'My  boy  !  my  darling  boy  !"  she  exclaimed,  "they 
tried  to  kill  you,  I  know  they  tried  to  kill  you,  my 
brave,  brave  boy !" 

"  Sit  down,  mother,"  he  said,  kissing  her  and  gently 
placing  her  in  a  chair,  "I  will  tell  you  all  about  it 
directly."  Then  he  went  over  to  the  great  chair  in 
which  his  invalid  father  was  sitting,  and  he  did  what 
few  men  of  his  years  do  now-a-days,  he  kissed  the 
grey-bearded  face  of  his  father,  turned  up  to  his  with 
a  look  of  pride  and  tenderness.  Then,  placing  his 
arm  about  his  sister,  in  a  cheerful  tone  he  briefly 
related  to  his  anxious  little  audience  the  incidents  of 
the  day. 

After  supper  he  showed  them  the  remnants  of  the 
flag,  remarking  to  his  agitated  father,  "Never  mind, 
father,  I  will  sew  all  these  tatters  on  the  new  flag  that 
you  and  I  will  hoist  in  Brazoria  some  day." 

,Mr.  ♦y«vren,  though  scarcely  able  to  move,  rose  to 


THE  PARLOR  AND  THE  CABIN-.  36 

his  feet,  and  walking  nervously  across  the  room  came 
back  and  took  a  seat  beside  his  son. 

"Robert,"  he  began,  "you  must  leave  here,  and 
that  this  very  night ;  for,  even  while  I  speak,  Town- 
send  may  be  setting  the  blood-hoimds  on  your  track. 
You  must  go  to  Kentucky.  I  am  sure  that  good  old 
State  will  be  true  to  the  Union.  Your  Uncle  Louis 
will  be  a  father  to  you.  If  there  should  be  a  war, 
Bobert — and  it  looks  like  it — ^I  need  not  advise  your 
course.  You  will  do  what  I  would  were  I  young 
again,  that  is,  join  the  first  military  organization  you 
meet  on  the  right  side." 

**  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  talk  so,  father,  for  while 
coming  home  I  formed  a  plan  like  that  you  have 
marked  out.  And  I  feel,"  he  continued,  placing  his 
hand  fondly  ou  his  father's,  "that  it  will  not  be  many 
months  before  you  see  me  back  again." 

"It  may  be  long  months,  or  even  years,  my  boy, 
for  the  South  is  strong  and  armed ;  but  there  is  a 
God,  and  right  will  not  be  overcome." 

"  Of  that  I  am  certain,  father,  and  were  I  assured 
of  the  welfare  of  the  family,  my  greatest  care  would 
be  removed." 

"You  need  not  fret  about  us,  my  son.  I  am  old 
and  weak,  to  be  sure,  but  more  exercise  may  make 
me  strong  again.  I  can  manage  the  plantation,  and 
oiu-  new  overseer  appears  to  be  a  first-rate  man.  The 
hands  are  faithful ;  you  know  yourself  we  never 
had  one  take  to  the  bottom.  And  then  the  prospect  for 
plentiful  crops  is  good  ;  so  that  I  will  get  on  finely.  You 
must  take  Archy  along  with  you,  and  the  two  English 
horses,  and  let  the  boy  have  a  rifle,  for  if  a  necessity 
arises,  he  can  use  it  as  well  as  any  man  on  the  prairie." 


36  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

*'I  shall  do  so,  father ;  but  I  fear  that  when  I  am 
gone  Wharton's  party  may  be  enraged  at  my  flight, 
and  wreak  their  spite  on  you." 

"Do  not  be  alarmed  about  that,  Robert.     Desper- 
ate and  unprincipled  as  I  know  many  of  them  to  be, 
I  am  sure  they  would  not  harm  me.     They  have  al 
ways  treated  me  with  respect.    You  know  we  all  voted 
for  that  noble  man,  Breckinridge,  last  fall." 

"True,  father;  but  if  I  mistake  not  you  will  find 
this  storm  of  secession  has  changed  their  natures. 
Why,  even  the  ladies  to-day  seemed  drunk  with 
excitement,  and  blended  with  the  crowd,  displaying 
the  secession  badges  they  wore  on  their  breasts." 

"How  did  Frank  Addison  vote?'*  asked  Mary,  with 
an  apparent  effort. 

Robert  looked  sadly  at  her,  and  replied,  as  he  drew 
her  closer  to  his  side,  "I  do  not  think  Frank  Addison 
is  worthy  of  your  love,  my  little  sister.  Try  and 
think  no  more  of  him  for  the  present.'* 

"  What,  brother  Robert,  do  you  mean  to  tell  me 
that  Frank  Addison  voted  for  secession?  Oh,  no, 
Robert,  that  cannot  be  ;  two  days  since  he  promised 
me  he  would  not." 

"I  am  sorry  to  pain  you  more,  dear  Mary,  but  Ad- 
dison's was  the  hand  that  pulled  down  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  from  the  court-house,  and  it  was  he  who  helped 
to  trample  the  flag  in  the  dust." 

The  young  girl  leaned  back  in  her  chair,  apparently 
overcome.  The  cold  sweat  stood  in  beads  on  her 
w^hite  forehead,  and  her  lips  grew  ashy  pale.  Robert 
was  alarmed,  and  hastily  placed  some  water  to  her 
lips.  At  the  same  time  Mrs.  Warren  came  to  her 
aid,  and  ^^ith  a  mother's  kind  words  tried  to  cheer 


THE  PAKLOR  AND  THE  CABIN.  37 

lier.  A  few  Hiinutes  of  silence,  and  Mary  rose  with 
her  hand  to  her  heart,  and  said,  in  a  supplicating 
tone : 

"  Oh,  my  mother !  my  brother !  do  not  ask  me  to 
believe  this  terrible  thing  all  at  once." 

Then  she  sat  down  beside  her  mother  and  laid  her 
head  on  the  breast  where  she  ever  found  comfort. 
The  pure,  young  heart  had  experienced  its  first  stun- 
ning blow,  and  she  closed  her  eyes,  as  if  closing  out 
the  world  might  make  the  sorrow  seem  a  dream. 

At  this  juncture  a  servant  entered  the  room,  and 
Mr.  Warren  ordered  him  to  tell  Archy  to  come  to  the 
house. 

At  the  same  time  Mrs.  Warren  exclaimed,  as  she 
gently  untwined  her  arms  from  about  her  daughter, 
"My  poor  boy,  I  have  wholly  overlooked  your  wound 
in  our  other  sorrows.  Why  did  you  not  mention  it?" 
«  The  very  fact  that  I  did  not,  mother,  shows  how 
trifling  it  is." 

Mary  rose  suddenly  at  this,  and,  with  her  old  voice 
and  manner,  started  to  assist  her  mother  in  removing 
the  hair  and  plastering  the  wound,  an  operation  that 
required  nerve.  But  tenderer  hands  never  dressed  a 
more  uncomplaining  patient.  In  the  meantime  Archy 
had  come  in,  and,  hat  in  hand,  stood  respectfully  at 
the  door,  while  he  asked  Mr.  Warren :  ♦'  Did  yeh  sen 
fur  me,  Mauss  Bob  ?  " 

"Yes,  Archy,"  said  Mr.  Warren,  turning  toward 
him,  "  I  want  to  speak  to  you  on  a  subject  of  import- 
ance." 

Mrs.  Warren  and  Mary  heard  the  black  man's  voice, 
and  they  hastened  to  thank  him  for  his  heroic  cod- 
duct. 


38  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

He  replied :  "  De  good  Lor'  knows,  anybody'd 
a'  done  dat  fur  iMauss  Robut ;  but  I  am  sartin  glad  I 
was  dar." 

Mr.  Warren  continued :  "  Archy,  you  know  the 
danger  Master  Robert  and  yourself  are  in.  I  feel  it 
would  bt  neither  wise  nor  safe  for  either  of  you  to 
remain  here  another  day.  You  must  accompany  your 
young  master,  and  when  you  get  North  he  will  make 
you  free,  and  when  the  trouble  is  over  I  will  send  you 
your  wife  and  children.     You  deserve  all,  Archy." 

The  last  words  were  intended  to  compliment  Archy, 
but  he  did  not  see  it  in  that  light,  for,  with  some 
feeling,  he  said : 

'*  Why  is  yeh  talkin'  'bout  freedom,  Mauss  Robut? 
I  ain't  dun  nothin'  ;  tole  Mauss  Robut  so.  I  does'nt 
want  to  be  free.  I'll  go  wid  Mauss  Robut,  and  I 
won't  lebe  him  till  I  die,  praise  de  Lor' !  But,  maus- 
S3r,  while  I's  gone^  won't  you  take  car'  ob  Susey  an' 
de  pickaninnies?" 

"  Indeed  I  will,  Archy.  I  give  you  my  word  that 
they  will  be  well  guarded  till  you  return  or  meet 
them  again.  And  now  I  want  you  to  get  ready  for 
a  long  ride.  Saddle  the  two  English  horses  at  once. 
Put  on  the  best  gear,  and  you  must  take  my  rifle  and 
hunting-belt ;  you  will  find  them  hanging  up  in  my 
room.  You  may  have  to  use  them,  Archy ;  and,  in 
that  event,  I  know  you  will  use  them  well.  Here, 
also,  are  two  hundred  dollars  in  gold ;  you  may  need 
it  if  you  and  your  master  Robert  should  get  sepa- 
rated." 

Archy  took  the  purse,  and  then  reached  out  his 
broad,  black  hand  to  his  master,  which  the  latter 
clasped. 


THE  PARLOR  AND  THE  CABIN.  39 

**Mauss  Bob,  I'll  take  de  rifle,  an'  I'll  only  use  it 
to  help  Mauss  Eobut.  I'll  stan'  by  'im  foreber.  I 
trus'  in  God  to  come  back  agin',  mausser,  for-  He 
tembers  de  shorn  lamb  to  de  storm." 

So  saying,  Archy  passed  out  of  the  room,  where  as 
a  boy  he  had  often  waited  on  the  plate  of  his  young 
master. 

After  Robert's  wound  had  been  dressed,  he  went 
to  the  door  and  looked  out  at  the  black  night.  The 
rain  still  poured  down  in  torrents,  and  he  was  about 
to  close  the  door,  when  he  heard  the  rapid  galloping 
of  a  horse  across  the  bridge  a  hundred  yards  from 
the  house.  This  was  followed  by  a  shout  from  the 
rider,  and  in  a  few  seconds  he  was  at  the  door. 
Throwing  himself  from  his  horse,  wet  and  covered 
with  mud,  he  sprang  up  the  steps  and  into  the  house, 
when,  without  speaking  a  word,  he  slammed  the  door 
shut. 

"What!  you,  G-aines?"  said  Robert,  in  astonish- 
ment, as  he  gazed  on  the  dripping  horseman. 

"Yes,  me,  and  only  me.  I  am  the  only  one  of 
our  party  left.  They  were  all  waylaid  and  murdered. 
I  was  fired  at,  but  escaped  through  the  bottom.  I 
found  Townsend's  horse  in  the  w^oods,  and  I  have 
ridden  here  to  give  the  alarm.  Indeed,  I  feared  you 
were  killed,  and  am  glad  to  find  you  all  right." 

"They  attempted  it,"  said  Robert,  "and  but  for 
Archy,  they  would  have  succeeded.  But  come  to  my 
room  and  change  your  clothes,  for  you  must  be  half 
drowned,  and  after  you  have  had  a  warm  supper  we 
can  have  a  full  conversation." 

"I  will  do  so,  Robert ;  but  there  is  little  time  for 
talking.     If  we  wish  to  continue  this  life,  why,  the 


40  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

sooner  we  are  in  the  saddle  the  better — though 
Heaven  only  knows  where  we  are  to  fly  to  in  this 
d d  State." 

"  That  I  have  determined  to  do.  But  come  to  my 
room  and  dress.  Why,  you  are  trembling  with  cold 
and  excitement.'* 

Reaching  the  room,  and  while  changing  his  clothes, 
Gaines  told  Robert  that  a  German,  named  Muth,  of 
their  party,  was  hanged  on  the  Colorado  road  ;  that 
Mr.  "Williams  was  shot  through  the  heart,  and  the 
other  two  were  killed  going  towards  Columbia.  This 
he  learned  from  some  men  who  passed  him  in  the 
dark.  They  also  said  that  three  negroes  had  killed 
some  of  the  "knights,"  and  then  taken  to  the 
bottom. 

"That,"  said  Robert,  "is  evidently  my  affair,  of 
which  I  told  you.  Archy  killed  Sam  Jackson,  but  it 
was  ta  save  my  life." 

"Well,"  continued  Gaines,  "  that  was  not  all.  I 
heard  them  swear  they'd  kill  every  man  in  Texas 
who  voted  for  the  Union,  and  I  believe  they  are  in 
earnest." 

' '  I  suppose  they  are,  but  you  remember  the  saying 
about  'catching  before  hanging,'  and  if  we  would 
draw  any  comfort  from  it,  I  think  we  should  start  so 
as  to  bother  them  in  overtaking  us.  I  am  going  to 
take  Archy,  and  there  is  no  course  left  for  you  but  to 
accompany  us.  I  have  an  uncle,  my  father's  brother, 
in  Kentucky,  and  I  know  he  must  feel  as  my  father 
does  in  this  matter.  With  him  we  will  find  a  home, 
and  when  the  Kentucky  rifles  go  out  to  fight  for  the 
Union  we  will  join  them.  What  do  you  say  to  that, 
Gaines?"  said  Robert,  laying  his  hand  on  the  shoul- 


THE  PARLOR  AND  THE  CABIN.       41 

der  of  his  friend,  who  was  sitting  with  do\\Ticast  eyes. 

•'I  am  with  you,  heart  and  hand,  Robert.  Let  us 
start  within  the  hour.  "We  can  pass  my  house  as  we 
go  up  the  river,  for  I  must  see  my  wife  and  boy. 
Poor  girl,  she  will  have  a  lonely  time  when  I  am  gone," 
and  Gaines  coughed  to  clear  the  choking  lump  which 
rose  in  his  throat. 

Robert  took  the  arm  of  his  friend  and  brought  him 
down  to  supper,  which  he  had  ordered  a  servant  to 
provide,  and  in  the  supper-room  he  explained  to  the 
astonished  family  the  cause  of  Graines's  presence. 

While  G-aines  and  Robert  were  drinking  their  cof- 
fee, Archy  came  to  the  door,  and,  in  a  voice  strangely 
sad,  said:  "Mauss  Robut,  de  bosses  is  ready." 

*'  All  right,  Archy,"  said  his  young  master  in  a  tone 
of  forced  cheerfulness.  *'  I  want  you  to  saddle  Ne- 
grete,  and  fasten  him  to  the  rack  with  the  other 
horses.     Mr.  Gaines  is  going  with  us." 

Archy  went  out  to  comply  with  his  master's  orders. 
Passing  down  through  the  long  street  of  cabins,  which 
could  only  be  seen  by  the  lights  glimmering  here  and 
there  through  windows  and  chinks,  he  opened  the 
door  of  a  cabin,  about  the  middle  of  the  quarters, 
and  went  in.  A  fire  was  blazing  on  the  hearth  and  a 
youHg  negro  woman  and  two  black  men  were  sitting 
before  it.  The  woman  rose  as  Archy  entered,  and 
said,  as  she  came  close  to  him : 

"Lor*  bress  yeh,  chile,  yeh  looks  so  tired  an'  kinder 
sorry.  Now  do  tell  me  all  de  matter.  Yeh's  not 
sick,  is  yeh  ?  fur  yeh  says  jes'  nothin'  since  yeh  corned 
from  de  vil'ge." 

"  Time  'nuff  tu  tell  yeh,  Susey  ;  time  'nuff.    Coon," 

continued  Archy,  addressing  one  of  the  black  men, 

4* 


42  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"  go  to  do  stable  an'  put  Maiiss  Bob's  saddle  on  Ne- 
grete,  an'  tote  'im  roiin'  to  de  rack." 

"Lor*  a  massy!"  ejaculated  Coon.  "Mauss  Bob 
ain't  agoin'  to  ride  dis  bressed  night,  shuah?" 

"Neber  yeh  mine,  Coon.  Jes'  go  an'  fotcli  Ne- 
grete.     Ye' 11  know  plenty  soon." 

Coon  rose,  and,  opening  the  door,  gazed  out  into 
the  murky  night,  then,  drawing  in  his  head,  with  won- 
dering  eyes   and    a    long-drawn    breath,    he    said : 

"  Archy,  does  yeh  want  dat  'ar  boss  fetched  roun', 
sartin?" 

"Yes,  I  does.  Coon.  Go  right  oif,  an*  if  yeh's 
skeered,  take  Dolph  'long." 

Dolph  rose  from  his  cosy  seat,  and  while  he  and 
Coon  gi'oped  their  way  to  the  stables,  wondering  in 
their  innocent  hearts  "what  de  massy"  was  wrong, 
Archy  sat  do^vn  on  the  low  stool  beside  his  wife  and 
gazed  into  the  heap  of  glowing  coals ;  then  slowly 
looking  up,  he  saw  the  eyes  of  the  young  woman  fixed 
sadly,  wonderingly  on  him. 

"  Susey,"  he  began,  laying  his  hand  on  her's,  as  if 
to  ease  the  sorrow  he  was  about  to  inflict,  "I'se  gwine 
'way  to-night — 'long  way  ofif." 

"Yeh's  gwine  'way  to-night — 'long  way  off?"  she 
exclaimed,  repeating  his  words.  "  Whar's  yeh  g\vine, 
Archy,  an'  wat's  yeh  gvvine  fur?" 

*'  Susey,  Hen  Townsend  an'  two  odders  tried  to  kill 
young  mauss  to-night,  but,  bress  de  Lor',  I  wus  dar  to 
sabe  'em.  Iv  we  stays  heah,  Susey,  dey'U  kill  us 
sartin ;  so  Mauss  Robut  an'  me  mus'  clar  out,  right 
off.  We's  agwine  to  Kaintuck,  Susey,  whar  yeh  comed 
frum,  when  yeh  -w^z  a  pickanin.  An'  den  Mauss 
Robut  is  jus'  gwine  to  fight  fur  de  country." 


THE  PARLOR  AND  THE  CABIN.  43 

*'  Wat's  Mauss  Robut  been  gone  an'  done  dat  he 
mus'  fight,  Archy?  Tears  dar's  nuffin'  bift  fightin', 
an'  I  reckon  de  worl's  comin'  to  an  end  !"  said  Susey» 
suppressing  the  tears  that  were  evidently  rising. 
Archy  tried  to  console  her. 

"Yeh  can't  imderstan'  de  laws  ob  de  case,  kase 
y eh' s  a  woman,  Susey .  Yeh'  11  know  some  day — plenty 
time."  Then,  changing  his  tone,  he  said  :  "Susey,  I 
wants  yeh  to  tink  ob  me  when  I's  gone,  an'  take  car' 
ob  de  chillen.  I'll  come  back  bimeby,  an'  den,  Su- 
sey, we  won't  trubble  no  more.'^ 

Susey  laid  her  left  hand  on  the  one  which  already 
clasped  her  right,  and  while  the  warm  tears  stole 
quietly  down  her  black  face,  she  said,  in  a  sobbing 
voice : 

"  I'd  'pears  like  I  won't  see  yeh  no  more,  Archy, 
an'  de  little  cabin  '11  be  berry  lonely  when  de  bans 
come  back  at  night,  an'  V 11  look  down  de  lane  fur  yer 
shadder — but  yeh  won' t  be  thar.  So  I  doesn'  t  want 
to  lib,  Archy,  now  yeh's  gwine  away." 

*' Don't  worry,  Susey;  I'll  be  back  bimeby,  an' 
yeh'll  larf  whin  I  meets  de  pickanins  at  de  doah, 
an'  de  trubble  '11  be  gone,  an'  de  good  Lor'  '11  bress 
yeh,  Susey." 

"I'll  try,  Archy,  I'll  try;  bud  'tis  berry  hard,  so 
berry  hard,"  and  she  bowed  her  head  on  her  knees. 

Archy  left  her  and  stepped  quietly  to  tlie  little  bed 
on  the  floor  in  the  comer,  where  two  plump,  little 
woolly-headed  children  lay  sleeping,  with  that  peace- 
ful, innocent  look  to  be  found  as  well  in  the  children 
of  the  slave  as  those  of  the  master.  He  Ivnelt  beside 
them,  and  his  lips  moved  for  a  while  as  if  in  prayer. 
Then  he  stooped  and  kissed  the  children,  while  the 


44  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

tears  he  would  not  have  the  mother  see  fell  on  the 
unconscious  faces  of  the  little  ones.  He  rose,  and, 
going  back  to  the  fire,  laid  his  hand  gently  on  Susey's 
shoulder,  as  she  sat  with  bowed  head,  swaying  herself 
with  low,  plaintive  moans. 

"Don't  cry,  Susey,  chile,  ^taint  no  good  nohow. 
Led'  me  talk  to  yeh,  Susey,  'fore  I  goes." 

Susy  raised  her  head  and  Archy  continued  :  "  Mauss 
Bob  gabe  me  some  money,  Susey  ;  it's  mor'n  I  want. 
Yeh  must  take  half,  coz  yeh  may  want  it,  poor  chile ; 
an'  nobody  knows  wat's  a-comin'." 

Susey  took  the  money,  saying :  "  I'll  keep  it  till  yeh 
comes  back,  Archy,  an'  I  pray  de  good  Lor'  it  may 
be  soon." 

The  tramping  of  a  horse  outside  told  them  Coon 
and  Dolph  were  passing  with  Negrete. 

Archy  hurriedly  pulled  on  a  pair  of  long,  heavy 
cowhide  boots,  and  taking  do\N'n  a  pair  of  saddle-bags, 
often  used  by  him  in  the  branding  season,  he  put  in 
a  few  articles  of  clothing,  and  Susey  gave  him  her  new 
bandana  wrapped  around  some  bread  and  meat. 

"Put  dis  in,  chile,"  she  said,  "fur  yeh  mayn't  hab 
time  to  eat  noff  in  in  demornin' — and  Archy,  honey, 
I  wants  yeh  to  keep  de  hankercher  fur  me." 

It  was  no  costly  gift  of  remembrance — no  portrait 
encased  in  golden  lids  ;  and  yet  to  the  heart  of  the 
poor  black  man  it  was  as  precious  as  the  most  costly 
jewel  ever  bestowed  by  lady  fair  upon  gallant 
knight. 

After  he  had  everything  prepared  for  the  journey, 
Archy  stood  up  beside  his  wife  and  said:  "Susey, 
may  de  Lor'  bress  and  guard  yeh  wid  his  shadowy 
wings  till  I  come  back.     Good-bye,   my  chile,  an 


THE  PARLOR  A'ND   THE  CABIN.       45 

don't  fret,  nohow,  for  de  bread  cast  on  de  waters 
shall  return  m  many  days." 

He  kissed  her  farewell,  and  before  she  could  reply 
Archy  had  passed  out  of  the  little  cabin,  so  dear  to 
hini,  for  in  it  dwelt  his  all  in  the  w^orld. 

Poor  Susey  !  All  alone  with  her  sorrow,  she  crept 
close  to  her  little  ones  and  poured  out  the  overflow- 
ing woes  of  her  heart  in  a  low  wail  of  agony.  Again 
and  again  she  kissed  the  unconscious  children,  as  if 
their  touch,  could  heal  her  bleeding  heart.  Then, 
starting  up,  suddenly  she  threw  a  covering  over  her 
head  and  rushing  out  through  the  blinding  storm, 
struggled  toward  the  white  folks'  house.  Reaching 
there,  she  saw  Archy,  leaning  on  his  rifle  before  the 
window  of  the  supper  room,  and  at  times  drawing  his 
sleeve  across  his  eyes. 

Inside  the  house  another  parting  was  taking  place. 
Mrs.  Warren,  the  tears  streaming  down  her  pale  face, 
was  clinging  to  the  shoulder  of  her  son.  Robert 
spoke  words  of  cheer  which  he  did  not  feel,  and 
tried  to  point  her  to  his  return,  as  if  the  faint  pros- 
pect of  future  joy  would  ease  her  present  sorrow. 
Again  and  again  Robert  kissed  her  troubled  face, 
and  then  clasping  Mary  to  his  heart,  told  her  to  look 
ahead,  for  better  days  would  come.  Mr.  Warren 
grasped  his  son's  hand  and  tried  to  look  a  calnmess 
he  did  not  feel ;  for  a  moment  he  gave  way,  and 
Robert's  arm  prevented  his  falling  to  the  floor.  Archy 
stole  in  and  bade  the  family  good-bye.  Then,  prom- 
ising to  send  back  word  by  every  opportunity,  the 
three  men,  with  their  rifles  slung  over  their  shoulder.s, 
passed  out,  and  mounting  their  horses,  rode  into  the 
Egyptian  darkness. 


46  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Tears  were  shed  by  the  white  ladies  in  the  house, 
and  from  the  eyes  of  the  black  woman  they  flowed, 
as,  crouched  'neath  the  dripping  magnolia,  her  hungry 
gaze  fed  on  the  retreating  forms  till  lost  in  the  black 
night. 


CHAPTEE  V. 


ANARCHY. 

After  the  three  horsemen  had  ridden  beyond  the 
grounds  that  surrounded  Mr.  Warren's  house,  Robert 
said  to  his  white  companion  : 

*' You  are  going  to  see  your  wife  to-night,  before 
we  strike  north.  I  wish,  before  leaving  Gronzelletta, 
to  see  one  who,  if  I  am  spared  to  return,  shall  be 
mine." 

"Without  replying,  Gaines  turned  his  horse's  head 
in  the  direction  of  Mrs.  Boardman's  plantation.  By 
the  time  they  reached  there  the  rain  had  ceased,  and 
the  varying  shades  of  blackness  in  the  clouds  showed 
the  storm  had  spent  its  force. 

Leaving  his  companions  standing  by  their  horses 
outside,  Robert  knocked  at  the  door,  and,  after  wait- 
ing for  some  time,  a  servant  partially  opened  it,  and, 
shading  the  light  with  her  hand,  peered  cautiously 
at  the  intruder,  whom  she  soon  recognized. 

**Why,  Lor*,  Mauss  Robut,  is  datyou?"  she  ex 
claimed. 

On  being  assured  that  it  was,  she  opened  the  dooi 
and  conducted  him  into  the  parlor,  informing  him  a1 
the  same  time  that  "  young  and  ole  miss  had  do^ie 
gone  to  bed." 


48  WARREN   OF  TEXAS. 

"I  am  sorry  for  that,  Kitty;  but  you  must  tell 
them  I  am  here.  They  will  understand  it  and  get  up 
at  once." 

The  girl  gave  a  knowing  smile  and  left  the  room. 

In  a  few  minutes  Mrs.  Boardman  entered,  and  ex- 
pressed herself  astonished  at  Robert's  visit  at  such 
a  time.  Amy  entered  immediately  after,  and  to  both 
he  gave  a  brief  account  of  the  day's  adventures,  and 
stated  that  he  was  then  on  his  way  to  Kentucky. 

Surprise  and  grief  were  painted  by  turns  on  the 
faces  of  his  listeners,  and  unconsciously  the  tears 
rose  to  the  eyes  of  one. 

**  I  feel  that  it  would  be  hazardous  to  remain  here 
another  hour,  Mrs.  Boardman ;  but,  in  leaving,  it  is 
with  the  firm  belief  that  I  will  soon  return  in  safety." 

"I  have  relatives  in  Kentucky,  Robert,  and,  if  you 
will  excuse  me,  I  will  go  to  my  room  and  prepare  for 
some  introductions.     You  may  find  them  useful." 

Mrs.  Boardman  went  to  her  room  and  Robert  sat 
down  beside  Amy  on  the  sofa. 

"  My  little  girl,"  he  said,  gently  stroking  the  brown 
hair  that  fell  in  wavy  masses  to  her  waist,  *'  to-night 
I  must  say  good-bye,  for  a  longer  time  than  we  have 
ever  been  parted  before ;  and  when  I  return  it  will 
be.  Amy,  to  make  you  mine.  Keep  up  a  brave  heart, 
and  I  will  write  to  you  whenever  I  see  a  chance  of 
your  getting  my  letters." 

She  looked  into  his  face  and  said,  "God  is  too 
good  to  part  us  forever.  But  be  careful,  Robert,  and 
remember,  'mid  every  danger  and  trial,  that  I  am 
praymg  for  you." 

She  rose,  and  going  to  a  stand  took  from  it  a  pair 
of  scissors. 


FIRST  PATRIOT  BLOOD.  49 

**  Robert,  I  want  that  lock  of  hair  you  have  been 
promising  me  so  long." 

He  bowed  his  head,  and  she  started  back  with  an 
exclamation  of  pain.  *'  Oh,  Robert !  why  did  you  not 
tell  me  this  ?  They  came  nearer  killing  you  than 
you  would  have  me  know." 

He  assured  her  it  was  only  a  scratch,  and  told  her 
to  take  a  lock  from  the  part  of  his  head  where  there 
were  no  blood  stains.  She  severed  one,  but  it  grew 
close  to  the  path  of  the  coward's  bullet,  and  was 
dyed  with  the  first  patriot  blood  shed  in  Texas. 

"  I  will  treasure  this,  Robert,  more  dearly,  if 
possible,  than  ever,  and  in  moments  of  dejection  it 
will  nerve  my  heart  and  intensify  my  hatred  of  those 
bad  men  whose  acts  have  torn  you  from  me !" 

He  drew  her  toward  him,  the  strong  arms  pressed 
her  to  his  heart,  and  their  lips  met — to  be  parted  for 
years. 

Mrs.  Boardman  shortly  returned  with  the  letters, 
and  Robert,  with  a  heavy  heart,  said  farewell  to  his 
more  than  friends. 

Again  in  the  saddle,  their  horses'  heads  were  turned 
northward,  and  at  a  flying  pace,  regardless  of  roads, 
and  guided  only  by  the  stars,  which  began  to  struggle 
through  the  thinning  clouds,  they  swept  over  the 
prairie.  For  a  short  time  they  stopped  at  the  house 
of  Andrew  Gaines,  while  he  procured  some  clothing 
and  exchanged  Negrete  for  his  own  favorite  mustang. 
Poor  fellow,  he  left  behind  him  his  lovely  young  wife 
and  child  and  his  aged  mother.  No  wonder  that  he 
remained  silent  till  daylight  and  the  sun  came  to 
drive  the  gloom  from  his  heart. 

About  forty  miles  north  of  Gonzelletta  they  struck 
5 


50  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

the  settlement  of  Santa  Cruz,  a  collection  of  cattle 
ranches,  with  a  log  store  in  the  middle.  To  pass  the 
place  would  be  to  create  suspicion  at  once,  so  they 
boldly  rode  up,  and  Eobert  asked  if  they  could  get 
breakfast  and  have  their  horses  fed  at  the  store. 
Being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  the  three  men 
dismounted,  and,  while  Archy  cared  for  the  horses, 
Robert  and  Gaines  entered  the  store,  which,  in  truth, 
was  more  like  a  bar-room,  with  its  array  of  bottles, 
than  a  store,  for  cowhide  boots  and  whisky  appeared 
to  constitute  the  stock  in  trade.  A  number  of  men, 
apparently  the  worse  for  the  last  night's  carouse, 
were  sitting  around  on  the  empty  barrels  and  broken 
chairs,  discussing  the  result  of  the  vote  in  Fort  Bend 
County. 

Our  friends  resisted  any  attempts  at  pumping  until 
after  they  had  partaken  of  a  warm  breakfast,  of  which 
they  stood  much  in  need. 

Returning  to  the  store-room,  Robert  heard  one  of 
the  men  say : 

"  Boys,  didn't  yeh  know  ole  Jackson  went  up  last 
night?" 

"Xo,  you  don't  say !"  replied  a  chorus,  in  surprise. 

"Sure  as  shootin' !  The  bojs  on  the  East  Bernard 
strung  him,  an'  I  heard  they  was  a-goin'  for  Dempsey. 
I  kinder  pity  Dempsey  if  they  catch  him  !" 

"Serves  the  d — d  old  traitor  right,"  said  a  young 
man  with  blood-shot  eyes,  spitting  vigorously  on  the 
floor. 

"I  helped  boost  that  cussed  long-legged  Adams, 
an'  I'd  do  the  same  to  ole  Sammy  Houston  if  he  wuz 
here,"  said  another. 

"Sam's  gone  back  on  Texas,  shuah.     Come,  boys, 


WARREN'S  STRATEGY.  61 

licker  again,"  said  an  owly-looking  man,  who  up  to 
this  time  had  been  whittling  the  top  of  the  barrel  on 
which  he  sat,  with  his  bowie-knife. 

At  this  juncture  a  tall  young  man  entered  the  room 
and  was  greeted  with  a  "Hurrah  fur  Captain  Wilson  !" 
Captain  Wilson,  after  taking  a  drink,  in  which  al) 
joined,  said; 

*'Boys,  I'm  going  to  raise  a  company  to  fight  the 
Yankees,  if  necessary.  How  many  here  will  join 
me?" 

"I,"  "I,"  "I,"  came  from  every  man  in  the  room 
except  Warren  and  Gaines.  Their  silence  attracted  the 
attention  of  one  of  the  men,  who,  going  up  to  Warren 
with  a  swagger,  said : 

"See  here,  friend,  are  you  willing  the  South 
should  have  her  rights?" 

"Indeed  am  I,"  replied  Warren  with  startling  em- 
phasis. 

"And  in  case  the  Yankees  shouldn't  let  us  have 
them,  are  you  willing  to  fight  for  them?" 
"  With  all  my  strength !"  said  Warren. 
"  Then  why  in  thunder  don't  you  fall  in  and  say 
so?" 

"  Oh,  you  have  no  organization,  nor  do  I  at  present 
see  a  necessity  for  one.  But  the  moment  the  South 
is  subjected  to  an  act  of  tyranny,  I  will  raise  a  regi- 
ment and  command  it  myself.'  * 

"And  I  will  be  a  high  private  in  your  command," 
said  Gaines ;  and  Archy,  who  by  this  time  had  brought 
up  the  horses,  interposed  with — "Wall,  I  reckon  if  I 
can't  fight,  I  can  jes'  beat  any  man  in  de  regmen'  a 
cooken'." 

*'  Come  up  an'  licker,  every  man,  nigger  an'  all, 


rt  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

yei  (ust  the  bulliest  kind  of  boys,"  said  the  ques- 
tioi  -ir. 

>f'arren  poured  out  a  glass  of  native  wine,  and 
raising  it,  addressed  the  crowd  :  "  Friends,  drink  my 
toast."  The  glasses  were  all  filled.  "May  the  arm 
of  the  traitor  who  opposes  right  wither,  and  may  he 
Avho  loves  not  his  country  never  have  a  home  in  the 
sunny  South !" 

Loud  c-heers  greeted  this  ambiguous  toast,  and 
Warren's  hand  was  grasped  by  every  man  in  the  room. 

Not  deeming  it  prudent  to  tarry  long,  the  horsemen 
wert  soon  again  pushing  southward,  their  plan  being  to 
go  through  Rusk  and  3Iarshall,  in  southern  Texas^ 
thence  into  Arkansas,  and  through  Tennessee  mto 
Kentucky. 

A  lew  miles  above  Santa  Cruz  they  crossed  the 
river  by  a  ferry,  and,  and  while  leading  their  horses 
up  the  muddy  banks,  and  beyond  the  swampy  ap- 
proach to  the  river,  Archy's  attention  was  arrested 
by  an  object  in  the  advance.  On  a  nearer  approach 
it  proved  to  be  the  body  of  a  man,  fastened  to  a  tree 
by  the  hands  and  legs.  The  head  was  a  pulpy  mass, 
and  the  bark  on  the  tree  on  each  side  was  chipped 
and  furrowed  by  bullets,  showing  that  the  man  had 
been  made  a  target  of  by  his  cruel  murderers.  War- 
ren noticed  a  piece  pf  paper  at  the  foot  of  the  tree, 
that  had  evidently  been  pinned  to  the  body,  but 
which  the  rain  had  beaten  off.  Taking  it  up,  he  read, 
in  rudely  wTitten  characters,  "  A  ivarning  to  all  aholi- 
turners.'' 

Warren  looked  steadily  at  the  body,  and  in  a  low 
voice  said  :  "  Yes,  the  very  name  that  from  my  child- 
hood I  have  hated  will  now  be  applied  to  me,  for  in 


ANARCHY.  5S 

the  South  to-day  abolition  and   Union  are  synony- 
mous." 

*'  I  see  nothing  ahead  but  anarchy,  Robert.     Law- 
lessness all  around  us,  and  murder  rising  to  a  virtue." 
"  Don't  give  up,  Glaines.     My  faith  is  firm  in  God, 
and  I  would  as  soon  doubt  Him  as  doubt  the  success 
of  what  we  deem  right." 

*'  I  have  no  hope.  A  principle  led  me  to  vote  for 
Union  yesterday — the  fear  of  death  drives  me,  I  know 
not  whither,  to-day." 

All  day  long  they  rode  across  the  prairies,  each 
busy  with  his  own  thoughts.  Occasionally  they  sayr 
bands  of  horsemen  riding  in  the  distance,  but  they 
met  with  none.  Once  they  stopped  to  rest  their 
horses,  when  they  lunched  on  the  bread  and  meat 
which  the  thoughtful  Susey  had  done  up  in  the  red 
bandana. 

As  night  approached  thoughts  of  food  and  a  camp- 
ing place,  where  water  could  be  found,  came  up.  Urg- 
ing their  horses  to  a  strip  of  timber,  which  in  Texas 
is  alwa'ys  an  indication  of  water,  Robert  Warren 
rode  ahead  of  the  party  to  a  depression,  or  ' '  hog-wal- 
low," in  the  prairie.  There  he  touched  his  horse, 
the  intelligent  animal  lay  down,  and  Warren  took 
a  deer-call  from  his  pocket  and  gave  a  few  bleats.  Sud- 
denly a  hundred  red  deer  rose,  and,  snuffing  the  wind, 
with  short,  proud  steps,  looked  around  in  surprise. 
They  were  too  far  off  to  risk  a  shot,  so  Warren 
mounted  his  horse,  lying  full  length  along  him,  then 
giving  a  low  whistle  the  horse  rose,  and,  with  head 
turned  in  the  direction  of  the  deer,  walked  deliber- 
ately toward  them.  The  rider  was  unobserved  till 
surrounded  by  the  herd,  when  he  suddenly  rose,  and 
6* 


64  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

the  startled  deer  turned,  and  with  long  bounds  dashed 
away  ;  but  one  grand  buck  was  too  late  for  ^yar^en's 
rising.  Selecting  and  firing  appeared  to  be  one  in- 
stantaneous act,  and  the  deer  came  to  the  ground. 
Dismounting  from  his  horse,  he  walked  up  to  the  dy- 
ing buck,  and  ran  his  hunting  knife  through  the  neck. 
By  this  time  Archy  came  up  and  threw  the  deer  across 
his  horse,  with  scarcely  a  comment ;  and,  riding  to  the 
timber,  each  proceeded  to  prepare  the  camp.  War- 
ren dressed  the  deer,  Archy  picketed  the  tired  horses, 
and  Gaines  started  a  fire  and  cut  green  sticks  on 
which  to  toast  the  steak.  Their  appetites  were  good, 
and  they  enjoyed  their  hunter's  fare.  They  were 
wearied,  and  slept  soundly  by  the  blazing  camp- 
fire,  with  the  stars  shining  down,  and  the  still  air 
giving  no  sound  but  the  feeding  of  the  horses. 


CHAPTEE  VI. 


"NEAR   USED   TIP." 

While  "Warren  and  his  companions  slept  by  the 
camp-fire,  after  their  ride  of  ninety  miles,  the  home 
at  Gonzelletta  was  anything  but  peace. 

Henderson  Townsend,  after  Eobert  WaiTen  had 
left  him  on  the  Brazoria  road,  returned  to  the  town, 
leading  back  his  wounded  comrade.  Although  it  was 
quite  dark  when  he  reached  Brazoria,  the  drunken 
crowd  had  not  dispersed.  The  bar-room  was  full  of 
swaggering  men,  singing  ribald  songs,  and  swearing 
vengeance  on  the  Yankees  and  the  men  who  voted 
for  Union.  The  appearance  of  Townsend  among  them, 
in  the  manner  stated,  was  the  signal  for  a  burst  of  sur- 
prise. 

"By  the  living  Jupiter  and  Santa  Anner,  Hen,  yer 
a  beautiful  picture  !"  cried  one. 

' '  How  the  devil  did  yer  both  git  fixed  that  way  ?" 
asked  another. 

Townsend,  with  an  air  of  great  weakness,  dropped 
into  a  chair,  while  his  companion  went  out  to  cleanse 
the  blood  from  his  face  and  have  his  wound  attended 
to. 

*'  I'm  near  used  up,"  began  Townsend  with  a  whine ; 
•*  will  some  one  give  me  a  drink?"     After  swallowing 


66  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

a  tumblerful  of  whisky,  Townsend  groaned  and 
pressed  both  his  hands  around  his  throat,  and  then 
groaned  again. 

"  See  here,  Townsend,  you're  coming  it  a  little  stiff. 
You  can't  make  me  believe  you're  hurt  as  bad  as  all 
that.  Come,  trot  out  your  story.  We're  all  spilin* 
to  hear  your  yarn,"  said  a  young  man,  whose  very  ex- 
pression spoke  a  contempt  for  the  whining  WTetch. 

"  "Well,  you  know  we  started  to  make  that  cuss, 
Warren,  take  back  his  high-flo^^^l  words,  and  when  we 
came  up  with  him  he  showed  fight.  Oh,  boys,  some 
one  give   me  a  drink!" 

"  Well,  I'll  be  d— d  if  I  don't  think  Warren  took 
the  starch  out  of  you,  Townsend.  Why,  confound 
you,  you'll  be  as  drunk  as  a  swill-fed  hog  if  you  don't 
go  on,"  again  spoke  the  young  man,  who  appreciated 
Townsend.  After  swallowing  some  more  liquor, 
Townsend  continued : 

"  Warren  showed  fight  an'  dared  us  to  come  near 
him.  He  called  us  Wharton's  hounds,  an'  renegade 
traitors.  Then  me  an'  Dempsey  ran  at  him,  but  he 
had  three  niggers  hid  in  the  chaparral,  an'  they  run 
at  us  from  behind,  an'  that  big  nigger  Archy,  cut 
Dempsey's  head  open  with  an  axe,  an'  knocked  Flem- 
ing down.     I  fought  the  two  of  them." 

*'  Stop,  Townsend,  didn't  you  say  there  were  three 
niggers  and  Warren?"  interposed  the  young  man, 

"Yes;  but  I  scared  off  two  of  them:  they  took 
to  the  bottom,  an'  I  fought  the  others  till  it  were  no 
kinder  use,  and  I  took  to  the  woods  myself.  I  saw- 
that  nigger  Archy  pick  Sam  Daprey's  pockets,  an* 
then  foUer  Warren  to  Gouzelletta.  Then  I  come 
roun'  an'  helped  Fleming  in,  an'  now  we're  here." 


INFURIATED.  67 

He  spoke  the  last  words  with  the  tone  of  a  man 
asking  compassion,  and  truly  he  received  it.  A 
Btorm  of  savage  imprecations  followed  the  narranve 
of  Townsend's  injuries,  and  a  number  of  the  men 
sprang  to  their  feet,  swearing  that  they  would  scart 
for  Warren's  at  once,  and  hang  him  and  all  his  nig- 
gers to  the  trees.  One  of  them  opened  the  dooi-,  as 
if  to  carry  out  his  threat,  but  the  petty  tempest  of 
human  wrath  was  hushed  before  the  mighty  an^^cr  of 
the  elements.  Down  in  torrents  came  the  drenching 
rain.  Flash  after  flash  of  lightning  blinded  those 
who  gazed  out,  and  the  crashing,  deafening  thai.der 
filled  the  men  in  the  bar-room  with  av/e. 

*'Boys,  no  man  kin  live  out  sicli  a  night  as  this. 
I  never  seed  sich  a  storm  on  the  Brazos.     If  it  don't 

rise  to-morrow  and  sweep  suthin  to  h 1,  I'm  a 

liar." 

The  door  was  slammed  to,  and  for  a  while  the 
wrongs  of  Townsend  were  forgotten  in  comments  on 
the  storm.  But  little  was  said  till  the  tornado  began 
to  abate,  and  then  cooler  reason  had  resumed  its  awny. 

The  young  man  who  had  attempted  to  joke  Town- 
send  was  the  first  to  return  to  the  subject.  His  face 
was  frank  and  intelligent,  but  showed  signs  of  early 
dissipation.  Filling  a  glass  ^yiih.  water,  he  drank  it 
off,  and  then,  with  the  gestm-es  of  a  boyish  declaimer, 
began : 

"Now,  I  know  Hen  To\\Tisend,  and  I'll  be  hanged 
if  t  always  swallow  what  he  says.  He  ain't  just  the 
fellow  to  tie  to,  in  my  opinion ;  but  I  think  he  has 
told  pretty  near  the  truth  in  the  story  he  has  just 
given.  I  can  take  it  all  in,  but  his  fighting  Warren. 
You  all  know  that's  cussed  stuff." 


68  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Here  Townsend  groaned  and  asked  for  another 
drink,  while  young  Bentley  continued  : 

"Now,  I'm  in  for  catching  Warren,  but  this  ain't 
just  the  night  for  it." 

"Not  by  a  thunderin'  sight,"  said  one  of  the  men 
who  had  been  so  anxious  to  start  at  once. 

*'  If  we  go  out  there  to-morrow,  why,  Robert  "Warren 
wouldn't  be  found  lying  on  the  sofa  with  handcuffs 
on,  saying,  *Boys,  I'm  your  prisoner,  take  me  out  and 
hang  me.'  Not  much,  T  reckon  !  If  we  meet  him 
to-morrow  we've  got  to  fight,  and  I  think  Bob  Warren 
ain't  behind  any  man  when  you  git  him  thar.  Now, 
my  plan  is  to  go  out  to-morrow  night,  after  dusk  ;  they're 
more  likely  to  be  in  then  than  any  other  time.  And 
we  can  go  for  them.  Then  we'll  bring  them  to  Bra- 
zoria, try  them,  and  if  found  guilty,  why — "  and 
Bentley  finished  the  sentence  in  pantomime,  by  tighten- 
ing the  knot  on  his  cravat,  holding  one  end  up,  and 
dropping  his  head  on  his  right  shoulder,  with  a  gurgling 
sound,  intended  to  imitate  a  death-rattle. 

This  plan  met  the  approval  of  those  present,  aS 
indeed  anything  else  which  Bently  might  have  said 
would.  Then  the  party  sank  to  sleep,  some  on  the 
floor,  some  on  chairs,  and  Townsend,  by  virtue  of  his 
injuries,  on  the  only  spare  bed  in  the  tavern. 
About  noon  of  the  following  day  a  meeting  of  the 
citizens  was  called  to  organize  the  militia,  and 
Wharton  again  spoke  in  the  court-house.  He  had 
dispatches  from  Houston,  stating  that  enough  of 
the  State  had  been  heard  from  to  warrant  the 
statement  that  Texas  had  gone  overwhelmingly 
for  secession.  He  told  them  that  "  Brazoria  County 
had  done    nobly,  though    he    was    pained,   as   his 


PROSCRIPTION  AND  MURDER.  59 

hearers  must  be,  that  James  Bell,  of  the  supreme 
bench,  a  native  of  that  county,  had  voted  at  Austin 
for  Union."  He  told  his  hearers  that  friends  must 
be  sacrificed  and  all  ties  severed,  if  they  found 
them  to  be  advocates  of  Union.  Those  who  voted  for 
the  Union  should  be  made  to  go  north,  for  there  were 
the  people  in  sympathy  with  them.  He  desired  the 
people  to  maintain  law  and  order  until  such  time  as 
the  seceded  States  could  remodel  their  laws  and  ap- 
point proper  officers.  One  thing  the  people  must 
watch,  and  that  was  the  latent  love  of  the  old  Union 
which  some  might  yet  entertain.  Every  word  breathed 
against  the  South  or  her  holy  cause  was  a  crime  so 
heinous,  that  the  greatest  penalty  known  to  the  law 
should  be  enforced  to  crush  out  opposition. 

Such  was  the  advice  of  Wharton,  and  such  the 
teaching  of  hundreds  of  others  in  the  "Lone  Star 
State."  How  well  those  lessons  were  received  a 
thousand  desolate  homes  can  testify.  Widows  wailed 
in  sorrow  for  their  husbands,  and  children  watched  in 
vain  for  a  father's  return.  Murder,  drunken  with  the 
blood  of  the  faithful,  stalked  through  the  land,  re- 
specting not  the  grey  hairs  of  the  patriarch,  pitying 
not  the  supplications  of  the  youth. 

About  the  time  that  "nature's  sweet  restorer  "  had 
rendered  Robert  Warren  and  his  companions  obliv- 
ious to  the  world  and  its  cares,  a  band  of  some 
fifteen  horsemen,  armed  to  the  teeth,  dismounted  in 
the  rear  of  his  father's  plantation.  Fastening  their 
horses,  they  advanced  so  as  to  surround  the  house  by 
the  time  they  reached  it.  While  moving  cautiously 
through  a  field,  Townseud  swore  a  savage  oath,  shout- 
ing at  the  same  time  : 


60  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"See  here,  boys,  here's  my  horse  that  Warren's 
niggers  stole!"  and,  sure  enough,  there  was  Town- 
send's  horse.  He  had  succeeded  in  breaking  his 
halter  and  getting  into  the  fields  after  Gaines  had 
dismounted  the  previous  evening.  The  finding  of  the 
horse  was  the  spark  wdiich  fired  the  hearts  of  the  des- 
perate band.  They  were  soon  around  the  house,  and 
two  of  the  men  w^ere  sent  to  the  negi'O  quarters, 
where,  by  threats,  they  learned  from  Susey  that  Archy 
and  his  master  had  fled  to  Galveston. 

Bentley,  as  leader  of  the  party,  accompanied  by 
Townsend,  knocked  at  the  door,  and,  on  its  being 
opened,  they  w^alked  in,  asking  the  servant  if  Mr. 
Robert  "Warren  was  home. 

*'  Mauss  Ptobut  ain't  heah.    He' s  done  gone,  shuah.' ' 

*'  Xone  of  yoiu"  nonsense,"  said  Bentley,  in  a  savage 
tone,  "tell  your  master,  girl,  I  want  to  see  him." 

The  servant  soon  returned,  telling  the  men  that 
Mr.  Warren  would  see  them  in  his  room.  They  strode 
in,  and  found  the  old  gentleman  looking  haggard  and 
reclining  on  a  sofa.  Motioning  them  to  seats,  he  asked, 
*'  Gentlemen,  what  is  your  pleasure  w^ith  me?" 

"We  come,  sir,"  said  Bentley,  "armed  with  the 
law,  to  arrest  your  son  and  three  of  your  servants 
for  the  murder  and  robbery  of  one  of  oiu  loyal  citi- 
zens, and  for  the  attempted  murder  of  others,  besides  the 
crime  of  horse-stealing,  wdiich  can  be  proved  as  well." 

"These  are  strong  charges,  sir;  but,  I  rejoice  to 
say,  they  are  wholly  without  foundation,  consequently 
one  is  as  difficult  to  prove  as  the  other." 

"  We  will  be  better  able  to  judge  after  the  parties 
are  tried,"  said  Bentley,  "and  now  I  wish  to  know 
where  we  can  find  them?" 


A  FEARLESS  OLD  PATRIOT.  61 

"Indeed,  gentlemen,"  replied  Mr.  Warren,  "I 
cannot  tell  you." 

"  You  mean  you  will  not." 

*'  I  desire  to  convey  no  such  impression,  sir ;  though 
I  might,  with  truth,  say  I  would  not  if  I  could,"  said 
Mr.  WaiTen,  sitting  upright. 

Bentley  continued  :  "  You  must  be  aware  of  their 
whereabouts,  and  such  being  the  case,  you  shield 
their  crimes  from  the  law,  and  become  a  partner  in 
their  guilt.  But  we  will  not  be  satisfied  with  your 
denial.  Boys !"  he  shouted,  going  to  the  window, 
*'  come  in  here,  three  of  you,  right  off." 

Three  rough,  heavily-bearded  fellows  sprang  in  at 
the  call,  and  were  ordered  by  Bentley  to  search  the 
house.  While  they  were  doing  so,  he  turned  to  Mr. 
Warren  and  said : 

"  If  your  son  has  fled,  we  want  no  further  evidence 
of  his  guilt." 

*'  My  son  has  fled,  sir,  but  he  is  innocent  of  the 
crimes  alleged.  Last  night  he  was  attacked  by  three 
armed  villains  ;  among  them  the  man  who  stands  be- 
side you.  He  Vvas  wounded,  and  but  for  his  servant 
would  have  been  killed." 

"If  such  is  the  truth,  Mr.  Warren,  why  did  your 
son  leave  Columbia  County?" 

**  He  left  from  no  fear  of  a  just  law  and  an  impar- 
tial judgment,  but  to  avoid  the  fury  of  the  fanatics, 
who  hate  him  because  he  dared  to  do  his  duty." 

"'Tis  a  lie!"  roared  Townsend,  blind  with  rage; 
*"tis  a  lie,  you  old  abolitionist!" 

The  color  rose  to  the  pale  cheeks  of  Mr.  Warren, 
his  dark  eyes  flashed,  and  a  momentary  strength  braced 
him,  as  he  hm'led  a  heavy  silver  pitcher  at  Townsend's 

6 


6S  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

head,  and  then  fell  exhausted  to  the  floor.  Town* 
send,  with  his  arm,  warded  off  the  blow,  and  then 
jumped  with  his  whole  might  on  the  postrate  man. 
Mary,  who  had  entered  the  room  at  that  moment, 
with  a  cry  of  pain  threw  her  arms  for  protection 
around  her  prostrate  father,  while  Bentley,  shouting 
out,  "You  miserable  coward!"  hurled  Townsend 
across  the  room. 

The  noise  brought  Mrs.  "Warren  in,  and  with  Bent- 
ley*  s  aid  they  lifted  the  fainting  old  man  on  the  sofa, 
and  the  distracted  wife  and  daughter  after  a  time  re- 
stored him  to  consciousness. 

At  this  juncture  the  three  men  who  had  been 
searching  the  house  returned,  stating  they  had  not 
found  Robert  Warren,  but  in  his  room  they  discovered 
the  clothes  he  had  worn  at  Brazoria,  torn  and  covered 
with  blood. 

**  These,"  said  Bentley,  holding  up  the  bloo<i-soaked 
garments,  *'  are  further  proofs  of  your  son's  guilt,  and 
were  it  not  for  the  murdered  man  we  buried  to-day, 
and  the  wounded  man,  who  may  not  live,  I  would  not 
credit  Townsend' s  story." 

"  Do  you  not  know,"  said  Mr.  WaiTcn,  in  a  scarcely 
audible  voice,  "that  others  who  voted  for  Union  were 
attacked  and  killed  going  from  Brazoria  about  the 
same  time.  You  must  be  aware,  too,  that  all  those 
men  had  their  horses  stolen  by  Townsend.  lie  ac- 
knowledged it  to  my  son.'* 

"No  I  didn't,"  said  Townsend  quickly.  "Your 
son's  an  abolitionist,  an' yesterday  he  voted  agin'  us, 
an'  he  called  our  flag  a  rag ;  an'  any  man  that  does 
that  should  be  hung.     Wharton  says  so." 

Mr.  Warren  turned  to  Bentley : 


THE  CAPTIVE.  63 

**  Did  Wharton  utter  such  sentiments  to  the  people  ?' ' 

**Yes,  sir;  he  did,"  was  the  reply. 

"Then,"  continued  Mr.  Warren,  "  I  am  as  guilty  as 
toy  son ;  for  had  I  been  able  to  attend  the  polls  I 
should  certainly  have  voted  as  he  did." 

"Didn't  I  tell  yer?"  roared  Townsend.  "Didn't  I 
tell  yer  he  was  a  abolitionist  ?  Now,  Bentley,  can-y 
out  yer  word,  an'  have  this  man  put  through." 

A  shade  of  soitow  passed  over  Bentley' s  face  as 
he  said:  *'Mr.  Warren,  I  regret  that  I  must  take  you 
to  the  town,  and  that  I  am  compelled  to  continue  my 
search  till  we  find  your  son." 

*'  Take  the  old  traitor  along !"  shouted  several  men 
who  had  crowded  on  the  gallery,  and  were  looking  in 
through  the  windows.  "Take  him  along,  an'  string 
him  up  if  he  goes  back  on  us !" 

"Oh,  gentlemen!"  cried  Mrs.  Warren,  throwing 
her  arms  around  her  husband's  neck.  ' '  For  the  sake 
of  heaven  do  not  move  my  husband.  He  is  an  inva- 
lid, and  cannot  bear  it.  Take  me,  my  property,  my 
life  ;  but  spare  him.  Oh !  by  the  love  you  bear  your 
fathers,  spare  him !" 

"Hush,  my  wife,"  said  t!ie  old  man,  attempting  to 
rise.  *'Do  not  fret ;  they  will  not  injure  me  beyond 
taking  me  to  the  village.  Mr.  Bentley,  you  will  let 
me  take  my  own  carriage,  and  permit  my  daughter  to 
accompany  me  ?" 

*'  Certainly,  sir ;  and  I  will  here  say  that  if  I  con- 
sulted my  own  feelings  you  would  not  have  to  move 
one  inch." 

In  a  short  time  the  caiTiage  came  to  the  door,  and 
Mr.  Warren,  leaning  on  the  arm  of  his  care-worn 
daughter,  stepped  in,  with  a  kind  word  to  his  weep- 


64  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

ing  wife.  The  horsemen  formed  around,  as  if  they 
were  guarding  a  desperado,  and  the  procession  moved 
towards  Brazoria. 

The  carriage  stopped  not  till  it  had  reached  a  heavy 
brick  structure  in  the  center  of  the  town,  when  Town- 
send  came  to  the  window,  and  in  a  taunting  voice 
said,  *'  Come  right  out,  sir,  here's  yer  ranche  till  yeh 
cool  down  on  the  Yankee  an'  the  nigger." 

Mary  helped  her  father  out,  and,  looking  up  at  the 
jail,  a  cold  thrill  ran  through  her,  and  she  clung  for 
support  to  her  father's  frail  arm. 

Bentley  was  not  among  the  guards.  Hasty  as  he 
was,  his  natural  goodness  of  heart  led  him  to  avoid 
this  scene. 

After  standing  a  few  minutes  before  the  building, 
a  rough  voice  shouted  out,  ''Bring  along  yer  man, 
Townsend — got  his  quarters  all  ready." 

*'  Oh  my  father !  my  dear,  dear  father,  you  cannot 
live  there  !  Oh  men,  mercy,  mercy  !  My  father  has 
done  no  wrong !  Before  God,  my  father  has  done  no 
wrong !  He  is  old  and  sick,  and  the  damp  prison  will 
kill  him.  Oh,  as  you  hope  for  mercy  at  God's  throne, 
don't  break  my  heart !     Don't  kill  my  father  !" 

"My  child,  my  little  Mary,  do  not  fret,"  said  Mr. 
Warren  in  a  kind,  strong  tone  ;  "  I  will  be  out  in  a  few 
days.  They  cannot  keep  me  here.  Why,  I  will  be 
safely  back  to  Gonzelletta  in  a  few  days." 

Poor  girl,  she  could  not  speak.  The  gentle  heart 
was  breaking,  and  even  the  stars  seemed  to  look  with 
pity  on  her  mighty  woe. 

The  prison  doors  closed  that  night  on  the  old  i)a- 
triot,  and  there  was  weeping  in  his  once  happy  home 
at  Gonzelletta.     He  prayed  God  that  he  might  live 


THE  CAPTIVE  RELEASED.  65 

to  see  all  his  dear  ones  again,  and  peace  restored  to 
the  land. 

God  answers  those  priyers  which,  in  His  far-seeing 
wisdom,  seem  best.  After  many  days  the  old  man 
was  released.  He  lay  upon  the  old  safa,  and  soft 
"botsteps  moved  around  him.  Mary  knelt  at  his  feet, 
ind  the  soft  hand  of  his  wife  wiped  the  cold  white 
forehead,  and  whispered  words  of  tenderness  and 
hope.  The  spirit  fluttered  on  the  thin  pale  lips  as  he 
tried  to  respond.  Once  they  moved  as  if  in  prayer. 
Then  for  a  time  all  was  still,  save  the  ticking  of  the 
old  clock,  and  an  occasional  sob.  Then  in  an  audi- 
ble voice,  that  sounded  as  if  from  a  better  land,  he 
said:  *«I  forgive  them.  Bless,  0  God!  bless  the 
cause  of  right !  Preserve  my  wife,  my  children. 
Robert,  Robert !"  A  scarcely  audible  sound  followed. 
One  long  breath,  and  slowly,  as  the  manly  chest  set- 
tled down,  the  spirit  passed  out  and  left  him  as  if 
asleep. 


CHAPTEE   VII 


THE   JOURNEY   NORTHWARD. 

Fc;  thirteen  days  Robert  Warren  and  Aw  friends 
pus!  f>  1  northward,  prudently  avoiding  ^be  villages 
and  <Uck  settlements,  till  they  reached  tbe  beau- 
tiful <own  of  Marshall  in  northeastern  Texa?.  Here 
they  determined  to  stop,  in  order  to  obtain  supplies 
and  i^ews  from  the  world,  out  of  which  they  had  been 
shu*-,  on  their  long  ride.  Robert  Warren  was  astonished 
to  h*^ar  men  boasting  in  Marshall,  that,  while  all  the 
northeastern  counties  had  voted  for  Union,  the  re- 
turr  s  were  so  falsified  as  to  make  the  result  seem  the 
otb*^r  way.  Thus  Texas,  though  at  heart  in  favor  of 
th'>  Union,  was  rushed  out.  Thousands  were  deterred 
from  voting  as  they  felt,  and  where  they  did  vote 
ag-^inst  secession,  the  result  was  changed. 

On  the  evening  of  the  arrival  of  our  party  in  Mar- 
sh \11,  the  stage,  heavily  laden  with  passengers,  came 
in  from  Houston.  From  one  of  the  new  arrivals 
W  arren  succeeded  in  borrowing  a  few  copies  of  the 
B  mston  Telegraph.  While  reading  them  over  his 
ev  ?s  rested  on  the  following  paragraph  : 
"$5,000  REWARD! 

"  SHOCKING   MURDER   IN   BRAZORIA  ! 

"Brazoria,  March  24,  1861. 
*  The  above  reward  will  be  given  for  the  body  of 


PATRIOTS  POSTED.  67 

Robert  "Warren,  jr.,  late  of  Gonzelletta ;  the  afore- 
said Warren  being  guilty  of  the  cold-bloo'l«id  murder 
of  two  of  our  loyal  citizens.  He  was  aided  in  his 
fiendish  acts  by  a  negro  who  answers  to  the  name  pf 
*Archy/  The  murderer  Warren  is  twenty-five  years 
of  age,  dark-complexioned,  with  black  mou/^tache  and 
grey  eyes.  He  is  strongly  built,  is  about  six  feet  in 
height,  and  has  a  strong,  decided  way  of  speaking. 
Half  the  above  reward  will  be  given  for  any  infor- 
mation that  may  lead  to  his  capture.  AU  persons 
knowingly  harboring  or  aiding  the  aforesaid  fugitives 
are  subject  to  arrest  and  trial  as  abettors  in  their  of- 
fense.'* 

This  was  signed  by  many  of  the  prominent  citizens 
of  Brazoria,  and  was  made  the  subject  of  an  editorial 
in  the  Telegraph.  The  crime  of  murder  in  the  south- 
ern States  was  treated  as  the  direct  effect  of  abolition 
teaching.  The  article  closed  by  invoking  its  readers, 
"as  they  loved  peace,  religion,  and  liberty,  to  crush 
down  every  feeling  of  sympathy  for  the  old  Union. 
That  once  honored  word  has  lost  its  original  meaning, 
and  now  denotes  abolition,  tyranny,  puritanism,  free- 
lovism,  and  every  other  crime — a  reproach  to  civiliza- 
tion and  the  race." 

Robert  handed  this  paper  to  Gaines  before  return- 
ing it  to  the  gentleman  from  whom  he  had  borrowed 
it.  Gaines  read  it  with  compressed  lips,  and  having 
finished  it,  he  said  hurriedly  and  incautiously  : 

"  Robert,  the  man  who  edits  that  paper,  the  fellow 
who  penned  that  article,  is  a  native  of  New  England. 
I  knew  him  when  he  first  settled  in  Houston,  a  second- 
rate  school  teacher.  But  he  married  old  Burton's 
daughter,  and  owns  slaves.     The  scoundrel !  Why,  in 


68  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

his  own  State  he  must  have  been  the  most  whining 
abolitionist  and  constitutional  hater  of  the  South. 
Now,  he  is  a  sneaking  traitor  who  would  not  give  up 
the  smallest  negro  on  his  place  to  save  the  whole 
government.     I  say  d — n  the  Yankees  !" 

Robert  saw  that  Gaines  was  getting  excited,  and 
stopped  him  by  calling  to  his  mind,  in  a  whisper,  their 
situation. 

The  gentleman  who  had  loaned  the  paper  over- 
heard Gaines's  excited  speech,  and  looking  up  to  Rob- 
ert he  tapped  him  on  the  shoulder,  saying,  "  Excuse 
me,  but  I  wish  to  speak  privately  with  you  for  a  few 
moments." 

"Certainly,  sir,"  said  Warren  as  he  followed  the 
man  up  stairs.  Entering  a  room,  his  conductor  turned 
the  key  in  the  door,  and  in  a  calm  tone  said,  "Be 
seated,  Mr.  Warren." 

For  a  moment  Robert  could  not  speak,  but  stared 
in  wonder  at  the  man  thus  addressing  him.  He  soon 
recovered  his  self  possession,  and,  drawing  a  pistol 
from  his  belt,  asked  in  a  tone  w^hich  showed  he  was 
in  no  trifling  humor : 

•'  Who  are  you,  sir?  and  what  did  you  brmg  me 
here  for?" 

"  Put  up  your  pistol,  Robert  Warren  ;  I  am  a  friend. 
My  name  is  Charles  Anderson,  formerly  of  Ohio,  and 
I  think,  sir,  that  my  patriotism  is  as  strong  as  yours. 
I  brought  you  here  to  put  you  on  your  guard,  for,  if 
I  mistake  not,  others,  less  friendly,  have  the  same  sus- 
picions I  had." 

Mr.  xAnderson  held  out  his  hand  as  he  concluded, 
and  Robert  clasped  it  warmly. 

"  God  bless  you,  sir.     But  you  do  not  believe  that 


A  FRIEND  INDEED.  69 

infamous  story  in  the  paper?" 

"  Believe  it  ?  no !  I  heard  a  true  version  of  the 
whole  affair  before  I  left  Houston,  and  I  have  been 
praying  ever  since  for  your  escape." 

"  Well,  Mr.  Anderson,  you  know  my  situation ; 
what  would  you  advise  under  the  circumstances?" 

"I  would  advise  you  to  start  this  very  night,  if 
your  horses  can  stand  it,  for  Shreveport,  Louisiana. 
You  can  reach  there  by  morning,  and  then  rest  but 
little  till  you  put  the  Mississippi  between  you  and 
Texas." 

Kobert  "Warren  agreed  to  follow  the  advice  of  his 
new  friend  and  start  for  Shreveport  before  dark. 

Mr.  x\nderson  told  him  more  about  the  iniquity  of 
the  election,  and  of  his  own  determination  to  go  north 
as  soon  as  possible — 

"  For,' '  said  he,  "I  thank  Grod,  Mr.  Warren,  there  are 
some  northern  men  in  the  South  who  dare  to  be  true, 
and  who,  though  their  efforts  have  been  futile,  have 
tried  to  stem  the  torrent  of  rebellion.  I  saved  this," 
continued  he,  showing  a  flag  wrapped  around  his 
breast  inside  his  waistcoat,  ' '  I  saved  this  from  the 
fury  of  the  mob  at  Austin,  and  I  will  retain  it  till  I 
can  hoist  it  again  over  the  capitol  of  Texas." 

Then  Robert's  eyes  filled  as  he  took  the  shreds  of 
the  torn  flag  from  his  own  pocket,  and  briefly  recount- 
ed to  Mr.  Anderson  the  facts  in  connection  with  the 
voting  in  Brazoria,  with  which  the  reader  is  already 
familiar. 

Deciding  to  act  on  Mr.  Anderson's  advice  at  once, 
Robert  descended  with  that  gentleman  to  the  bar- 
room, where  he  found  Gaines,  and  informed  him  in 
an  undertone  of  his  determination  to  leave  Marshall 


70  WARREN   OF  TEXAS. 

at  once.  After  partaking  of  a  hearty  supper,  they 
bade  Mr.  Anderson  farewell,  and  before  it  was  quite 
dark  they  were  seven  miles  from  Marshall,  on  the 
Shreveport  road. 

Considering  the  immediate  danger  as  passed,  they 
slackened  the  speed  of  their  weary  horses,  and  rode 
at  a  w^alk  till  ten  o'clock.  While  ascending  a  hill 
on  the  road,  they  were  startled  by  the  sound  of  horses 
galloping  rapidly  behind  them.  Archy  dismounted, 
and  placing  his  ear  to  the  ground  listened  for  a  few 
seconds,  then  rising,  hurriedly  said  : 

**  Mauss  Robut,  dar's  mor'n  ten,  an  dey's  comin  dis 
way  right  smart,  shuah." 

"  It  may  be  some  party  in  pursuit,  and,  if  so,  it 
would  be  foolish  to  race  them  with  our  jaded  horses. 
Gaines,  are  your  arms  ready,  and  yours,  Archy?" 
Being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  Robert  continued, 
*'  I  think  our  wisest  plan  is  to  turn  into  the  woods  and 
dismount  till  they  pass." 

Dismounting,  they  led  their  horses  into  the  woods 
and  for  some  distance  through  the  dense  undergrowth. 
They  were  about  ten  yards  from  the  road  when  a  party 
of  horsemen  galloped  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  the 
fugitives  could  see  by  the  starlight  the  glistening  of 
their  polished  guns.  Their  horses  were  panting  from 
their  hard  ride,  and  one  of  the  party  shouted  out : 

"  Halt,  fels  !  I  don't  think  they  com'd  on  this  har 
road,  or  we'd  overtook  'em.  I  think  we're  on  the 
^^Tong  scent." 

"No  we  ain't,"  answered  another,  "kase  I  looked 
the  tracks  two  mile  back,  an'  they  wuz  on  this  road, 
an'  they  couldn't  a'  took  another,  fur  thar  ain't  none." 

*♦  Waal,"  said  the  first  speaker,  who  appeared  to  be 


THE  PURSUIT.  71 

the  le'rtdet,  *'  thar's  no  kinder  use  in  all  on  us  agoin 
arter  'em  by  this  light.  Let  six  of  yer  keep  doun  the 
road,  an'  if  yer  ain't  back  in  an  hour,  we'll  think  yer 
on  the  trail,  and  foUer.  We'll  rest  the  critters  an' 
start  a  fire  till  then." 

This  was  agreed  to,  and  six  of  the  horsemen  gal- 
loped rapidly  down  the  road,  while  the  remainder, 
some  eight  in  number,  dismounted  and  took  off  the 
bridles  to  let  their  animals  rest.  Soon  a  bright  glare 
lit  up  the  woods  from  the  camp-fire  of  the  pursuers. 
They  were  about  sixty  yards  from  the  spot  where  the 
three  men  stood  by  their  horses,  and  so  still  was  the 
atmosphere  that  the  breaking  of  the  smallest  twig 
could  be  heard  from  their  place  of  concealment. 

"They  may  not  be  after  us,  Gaines,"  w^hispered 
Warren;  "I  will  make  sure.  Keep  the  bridle  over 
Don's  head,  Archy,  for  I  may  have  to  mount  rapidly. 
Be  still  as  the  grave  till  I  return." 

So  saying,  Robert  Warren  carefully  removed  his 
long  Mexican  spurs,  and  putting  them  in  his  saddle- 
bags, walked  with  the  cautious  step  of  an  Indian  to- 
ward the  fire. 

He  noticed  within  a  few  yards  of  the  group  a  tree 
much  larger  than  the  usual  scrubby  growth,  and,  get- 
ting into  its  shadow,  he  crawled  close  to  it,  and  from 
its  protection  he  drank  in  with  thirsty  ears  every  word 
of  the  men  around  the  fire. 

"If,"  said  one,  who  had  stretched  himself  on  his 
face  full  length  before  the  fire,  "  if  we'd  com*d  up  with 
them  thar  fellers,  I  reckon  they'd  a  showed  right 
smart  fight." 

"  You  bet,"  laconically  grunted  a  stalwart  giant,  who 
stood  basking  himself  in  the  heat  of  the  blazing  logs. 


72  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

*'We'd  orter  got  *em  in  town,"  said  the  leader. 
"  That  feller,  Bentley,  had  orter  come  hisself.  I'm 
afeared  we'll  have  the  hunt  for  nothing." 

""Waal,  I  dimno  about  takin'  'em  in  town,"  said 
the  first  speaker.  "If  we'd  a  tried  it,  I  reckon  we'd 
a'  had  more  to  fight  than  a  nigger  and  two  white  men, 
for  thar  is  more  mangy  cusses  in  Marshall  than  I  ever 
seed ;  an'  if  they  knowed  when  we  wuz  comin',  you 
bet,  they*d  a  follered  an*  gi'n  us  trouble." 

*'  See  here,"  said  the  giant  before  referred  to,  "if 
I  knowed  them  fellers  wasn't  murderers,  by  thunder, 
you  wouldn't  catch  me  arter  'em." 

"  Yes,  Tennessee,  I  believe,  as  true  as  I'm  Sam 
Rose,  yer  as  much  of  a  Yankee  as  any  of  'em,  if  ye'd 
only  spunk  ter  show  it,"  said  the  leader. 

"If  I'd  only  spunk  to  show  it !  You  blasted  fool, 
do  yeh  suppose  I  darn't  say  jest  what  I  please,  an'  do 
what  I  please,  without  fear  of  any  man  ?"  asked  the 
man  addressed  as  Tennessee,  taking  a  step  toward 
Rose. 

"  I  don't  think  yer  skeered,  but  I  do  think  yeh  ain't 
jist  0.  K.;  that's  all." 

"  Waal,"  replied  Tennessee,  "I'll  tell  you  uns  how 
I  feel  'bout  it.  Grinral  Jackson  loved  the  Union,  an' 
cussed  if  I  don't  to.  The  Yankees  never  did  me 
harm,  an'  if  we're  go  in'  to  have  war,  why,  I  jest  think 
it'll  be  a  rich  man's  quarrel  an'  a  poor  man's  fight. 
I  ain't  spilin'  to  fight  unless  some  onery  fool  gives  me 
gab." 

"Yes,  Tennessee,  if  all  on  us  did  that,  the  aboli- 
tionists would  come  dov>-n  bar  an'  make  yeh  marry  a 
nigger  wench.     How  would  yeh  like  that,  ole  fel?" 
"  I  wouldn't  like  it,  if  it  wuz  so  ;  but  that's  chile 


THE  ENCOUNTER.  73 

talk.  I've  got  a  white  woman  fur  a  wife,  an'  a  bully 
girl  she  is.  But  I'll  tell  yeh  what,  Rose,  some  of  you 
fellers  mout  as  well  have  nigger  wives  as  live  as  yeh  do." 

"What  do  yeh  mean?"  demanded  Rose,  rising. 
"  Tennessee,  yer  as  bad  as  the  houns  we're  a  chasing, 
an'  if  yeh  want  to  keep  yer  skin  whole,  my  advice  is 
to  clar'  out  jist  as  soon  as  yeh  kin." 

"Ye'd  better  keep  yer  shirt  on.  Rose.  Another 
word  in  that  style,  an'  by  the  ghost  of  Ginral  Jack- 
son, I'll  roast  yeh  on  this  fire  !"  and  Tennessee  fingered 
the  hilt  of  his  huge  knife  and  kicked  the  logs  before 
him  till  a  shower  of  sparks,  like  a  fiery  fountain,  flew 
upward. 

At  this  point  of  the  conversation  the  loud  neighing 
of  a  horse  in  the  woods  rang  out  and  startled  the  men 
around  the  fire. 

«<By  ,  they're  in  thar!"  shouted  Ros3,  spring- 
ing to  his  feet  and  advancing  toward  the  tree  behinc* 
which  Robert  was  concealed.  "I  heerd  some  one 
speak  in  thar,  sure  !  Tumble  up,  men ;  we'll  cotch 
them." 

The  suggestion  of  Rose  was  ha  tily  complied  with, 
the  men  seizing  their  arms  and  rushing  in  tiie  direc- 
tion indicated  by  the  sound. 

Quick  as  a  flash,  Robert  Warren  sprang  from  be- 
hind the  tree,  and  with  his  knife  cut  loose  the  horses 
of  his  pursuers,  and  then  with  a  yell,  such  only  as  an 
Indian  or  a  Texan  can  give,  he  drew  his  pistol  and 
fired  toward  Rose's  gang.  They  turned,  to  a  man,  to 
meet  this  attack  in  the  rear,  but  Warren  was  not  ic 
be  seen.  Ho  sprang  unperceived  into  the  woods,  and 
in  a  few  seconds  was  mounted  on  his  horse. 

"Don't  move  till  they  come  up   again,"  he  wliis- 
7 


74  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

pered  to  his  companions ;  "  and  then  fire  righ<"  at 
them  till  your  pistols  are  exhausted.  After  thtit, 
follow  my  example." 

Half  of  Rose's  men  started  in  pursuit  of  the  stam- 
peded animals,  and  the  others  cautiously  retur«.ea  to 
the  woods.  Like  statues  the  fugitives  sat  theii 
horses,  with  their  pistols  cocked  and  pointed  in  the 
direction  of  their  pursuers.  On  they  came,  ao  close 
that  Warren  could  hear  their  hurried  breathing.  One 
of  the  horses  moved ;  a  wild  yell  announced  thd  dis- 
covery by  the  nearest  of  the  party,  and  at  random  a 
half  dozen  rifles  were  discharged  in  the  direction  of 
Warren.  Between  him  and  the  blazing  fire  he  saw 
the  advancing  figures  not  ten  paces  off.  He  leveled 
and  shouted  "Fire  !"  Two  of  the  men  fell,  ai/d  again 
Warren  cocked  and  fired.  Rose  shouted  out,  "Git 
out  of  the  light,  boys,  or  we're  gone  !"  and  the  men 
rushed  back  toward  the  fire.  Wanen  spurred  his 
horse  into  the  middle  of  the  road,  and  shouted: 
*' Hurrah  for  the  Union  and  General  Jackson !" 

Then  they  wheeled  their  horses,  and  the  spirited 
creatures  needed  no  spur  to  obey  the  piessure  of  the 
knee.  Away  they  flew  ;  but  they  were  not  alone.  A 
giant  horseman  echoed  Robert's  shoat^  and  cried  out, 
"Keep  to  the  left!"  Instinctively  '.he  horses  were 
turned,  and  the  four  men  dashed  pasi;  the  fire  and  the 
bewildered  pursuers.  They  were  retracing  their  steps 
on  the  Marshall  road.  After  riding  about  a  mile, 
Robert  reined  in  his  horse  to  listen  for  their  pursuers. 
The  galloping  of  one  horse  could  Le  heard  advancing, 
and  they  detennined  to  wait  till  he  came  up.  In  a 
few  seconds  the  huge  horseman  drew  rein  beside  them. 
He   saluted   them  with,    "Wall,  frien's,  tliat   wuz 


TAD— A  SAFE  HARBOR.  76 

purty  nice  did,  wa'iit  it?    But  kcepagoin' — foUer  me.'* 

Saying  this,  he  dashed  ahead,  and  without  a  com- 
ment Warren  and  his  friends  followed  him.  About 
half  a  mile  further  on,  the  guide  called  out,  as  he 
dashed  into  the  woods  to  the  right,  "  Injmi  file  !  Hug 
close  to  yer  saddles !"  At  a  rapid  gallop  they  sped 
through  the  black  jungle,  though,  from  the  smoothness 
of  the  horses'  tread,  Warren  judged  they  were  riding 
over  a  beaten  path. 

After  riding  for  about  two  hours,  during  which  not 
a  word  was  spoken,  they  reached  a  wide  stream,  into 
which  the  guide  plunged  and  the  fugitives  followed. 
The  ri^^er  was  fordable,  and  after  ascending  the  oppo- 
site bank,  they  saw  the  light  of  a  cabin  a  short  distance 
ahead.  Dismounting  before  the  door,  the  guide  gave 
a  peculiar  rap,  and  soon  it  was  opened  by  what  in  the 
indistinct  light  af^eared  to  be  a  very  old  man, 

"  Who's  thar?"  he  asked. 

"Frien's  to  you  an'  Grinral  Jackson,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Why,  Tennessee,  I'm  right  glad  to  see  yeh.  Come 
in,  come  in,"  said  the  man  at  the  door. 

"My  frien's  wants  rest  fur  the  night.  Tad,  an'  our 
critters  are  nigh  gin  out,  so  I  reckon  we'd  better  ten' 
to  them  fust." 

The  proprietor  of  the  cabin  stepped  back,  and  soon 
reappeared,  shading  a  light,  with  w^iich  he  led  the 
way  to  a  shed  in  the  rear  of  his  cabin.  An  abundance 
of  fodder  was  quickly  placed  in  the  racks,  and  the 
jaded  animals,  divested  of  their  heavy  saddles,  were 
soon  enjoying  the  strange  and  welcome  hospitality. 

The  individual  addressed  as  "Tad"  then  returned 
with  his  guests  to  the  cabin. 

"These  men  is  frien's  of  we'uns,  Tad,"  said  Ten- 


76  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

nessee,  by  v.ay  of  introduction.  "I  tiik  'cm  out  of  a 
big  fuss  over  on  the  Shreveport  road.  They  goes  in 
strong  for  Ginral  Jackson." 

"Then,"  said  Tad,  "they're  frien's  o'  mine,  sartin. 
Sit  do^^^l,  boys,  an'  I'll  git  yeh  suthin  hot  in  no  time." 
The   "boys,"  divesting  themselves  of  their  arms, 
accepted  the  invitation  of  Tad,  who  started  to  pre- 
pare the   "suthin  hot"  for  his  guests.     While  he  is 
doing  so,  let  us  take  a  glance  at  a  man  with  whom  we 
are  to  be  better  acquainted — "Tennessee."     He  was 
truly  a  giant  in  form,  though,  unlike  most  large  men, 
there  was  a  flexibility  about  him  which  gave  a  nerv^ous 
appearance  to  his  movements.     He  was  about  forty 
years  of  age,  with  long,  yellowish  hair  and  beard,  large, 
innocent-looking  blue  eyes,  and  a  strong,  yet  kindly 
expression  of  the  wliole  face — such  a  man  as  children, 
dogs,  and  horses  would  approach  without  fear.     While 
Tad  was  at  work,  Tennessee  sat  before  the  fire  stroking 
his  long  beard  and  spitting  energetically  into  the  heap 
of  glowing  coals.     He  looked  as  innocent  as  a  gi-eat 
Newfoundland,  yet  he  was  the  man  on  whose  judg- 
ment  and   fidelity   the  fate  of   armies  subsequently 
depended. 

"  Do  yeh  know  Mr.  Anderson  ?"  asked  Tennessee, 
directing  his  query  to  Robert. 

"  I  met  him  this  evening,  and  it  was  by  his  advice 
that  we  left  Marshall." 

"  Wall,  I  know'd  him  in  Austin.  An'  I  met  him 
agin  yesterday — it's  after  midnight  now."  The  last 
clause  was  inserted  to  justify  his  saying  "yesterday." 
Then  he  went  on,  "We  saw  them  fellers  a  po^^'^vowing 
about  you'uns.  Mr.  Anderson  told  me  'twas  all  a  lie 
about  yer  killen'  any  one,  only  in  defense,  and  he  told 


"  SUTHIN  HOT."  77 

me  yeh  went  in  on  Ginral  Jackson.  He  says  to  nie, 
*  Tennessee* — they  calls  me  'Tennessee'  coz  I'm 
from  that  State — '  Tennessee,  yeh  mus'  go  with  them 
fellers,  if  they  chase  Warren,  an'  put  them  on  the 
wrong  track,  if  yeh  kin,  an'  if  yeh  can't,  why,  do 
what's  right/  I  told  him,  by  thunder  I  would,  I 
wanted  to  git  them  out  on  the  Caddo  Lake  road,  but 
Rose  ain't  very  dull.  He  'spected  to  have  a  big  pull 
if  he  got  yeh." 

"  But  how  did  you  manage  to  get  your  horse  so  as 
to  catch  up  with  us,  after  I  loosed  the  animals?" 

In  reply  Tennessee  said :  "  Thar  wuz  one  boss  yeh 
didn't  loose,  cuz  I  wuz  on  his  back  before  yeh  got  near 
the  others.  I  saw  yer  whole  plan  to  wunst,  an'  I 
*spected  a  devil  of  a  fight,  but  the  whole  thing  ended 
bully,"  and  Tennessee  closed  with  a  low,  chuckling 
laugh. 

Robert  told  Tennessee  of  his  position  by  the  tree, 
and  the  conversation  which  he  overheard  near  the  fire, 
which  convinced  him  that  Tennessee  was  a  friend.  '*  I 
intended,  however,  after  getting  on  the  road,  to  give 
my  enemies  a  long  chase  by  keeping  to  the  right." 

"  That  seemed  natral,  as  it  wuz  the  line  yeh've  got 
to  take  bimeby ;  but  if  yeh  had,  ye'd  a  got  inter  the 
all-firdest  trap  by  runnin'  slap  agin'  the  crowd  comin' 
back  on  the  road.  But  now  we  'uns  is  all  har  safe, 
an'  to  keep  so,  we  musn't  be  har  long." 

Tad  here  ended  the  conversation  by  handing  a  tin 
cup  to  each  man,  and  then  filling  it  with  a  steam- 
ing potion  from  a  brown  earthen  pitcher.  Tad,  who 
was  really  a  younger  man  than  Tennessee,  called  the 
fluid  "  hot  stuff,  mighty  good  fur  the  spemts."  After 
all  had  drank,  with  the  customary  "Good  health," 
7* 


78  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"Here's  at  yeh,"  and  "How,"  Tad  proceeded  to  pre 
pare  a  bed  for  his  visitors.  He  took  from  a  rack  a 
pile  of  buffalo  and  deer  skins,  and  spread  them  in 
layers  till  they  formed  a  bed  which  a  prince  might 
envy.  He  then  threw  an  armful  to  Archy,  saying : 
'•Take  them,  ole  feller,  an'  make  yersel'  a  nest  in  the 
corner." 

•'Tank  yeh,  mausser,  I  reckon  I  kin  sleep  like  a 
alligator  anywhar  after  drinkin'  dat  •hot  stuff.'  " 

••Are  you  sure,  my  friend,"  asked  Gaines,  as  he 
was  about  to  lie  down,  "that  we  are  safe  here?  for 
if  so,  I  will  take  off  my  clothes  for  a  good  sleep." 

•'  Yer  as  safe,  ole  boy,  as  if  yeh  wuz  in  yer  own 
mother's  house,"  answered  Tennessee;  and  with  this 
consoling  information,  the  two  fugitives  sank  to  rest, 
while  Tennessee  and  Tad  retired  to  a  small  room  at 
the  end  of  the  cabin,  from  which  the  sound  of  heavy 
breating  soon  came,  and  peace  reigned  in  the  realm 
of  danger. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THE   LAKES. 

In  Caddo  Parish,  in  northwestern  Louisiana,  which 
borders  on  Texas,  there  is  a  large  cluster  of  fresh- 
water lakes  and  deep  bayous,  that  wind  in  the  most 
tortuous  manner  through  the  rich  low  lands  of  that 
section.  Some  of  the  bayous  return  again  into  their 
sources,  if  such  the  lakes  that  receive  them  can  be 
called. 

Along  some  of  the  bayous  there  are  many  fine  cot- 
ton plantations,  but  the  greater  portion  of  the  lake 
region  is  in  its  primitive  state.  Wild  ducks  by  thous- 
ands swim  in  peace  on  the  calm  waters,  unnoticed  by 
the  hunter,  who  watches  for  the  bear,  or  waits  at 
evening  by  the  shores  for  the  watering  of  the  antlered 
buck.  Swans  by  thousands  float  there  undisturbed,  and 
from  the  shallow  shores  the  shrill  cry  of  the  heron 
reverberates  through  the  bordering  cypress  groves. 
There  is  an  air  of  melancholy,  of  almost  utter  loneli- 
ness about  these  lakes,  and  the  effect  is  increased  by 
the  long  grey  moss  which  like  funeral  plumes  hangs 
from  the  trees.  There  is  nothing  picturesque,  in  the  or- 
dinary acception  of  that  word,  about  the  Caddo  Lakes, 
and  the  log-like  alligators,  swimming  along  the  mud- 
dy shores,  add  not  to  its  beauty.  Li  the  hunting 
season,  the  lake  region  is  a  grand  resort  for  those  who 


80  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

hunt  for  a  living  or  sport.  Then  over  its  waters  floats 
the  canoe  of  the  Indian  from  the  north,  in  its  pristine 
simplicity,  while  the  occupant  with  poised  spear 
watches  for  the  rising  of  the  black-fish.  Then  the 
white  trapper,  scarcely  more  elevated  than  the  In- 
dians, frequents  the  lake  to  reap  a  rich  and  certain 
harvest  of  pelts. 

Dotted  through  the  lakes  are  mjTiads  of  small 
islands,  covered  with  a  dense  undergrowth  of  cane, 
and  bounded  like  the  shores  with  wide-spreading  cy- 
press-trees. But  few  of  the  islands  have  been  trod- 
den by  the  foot  of  man.  Often,  when  the  Red  River, 
into  which  the  lakes  empty,  is  flooded,  the  water 
backs  into  the  lakes,  and  the  islands  are  submerged 
to  the  depth  of  eight  or  ten  feet.  After  the  flood 
subsides,  the  vegetable  growth  on  the  rich  alluvial 
deposit  is  truly  wonderful.  In  the  months  of  Sep- 
tember and  October  immense  flocks  of  birds  frequent 
the  islands  to  feed  on  the  luscious  mustang  gi'apes 
which  hang  in  great  bunches  from  the  prolific  vines. 

The  sun  had  risen  on  the  morning  after  the  arrival 
of  the  fugutives  at  Tad's.  That  individual  was  up 
first,  and  attended  to  the  horses.  Then  he  returned 
and  awoke  Archy,  who  immediately  started  the  fire, 
and  of  his  own  accord  began  to  prepare  the  materials 
for  breakfast.  The  noise  soon  roused  the  others,  and 
they  rose  refreshed  from  their  soft,  warm  couches. 
After  the  morning  salutations  had  passed,  Tennessee 
laid  down  the  plan  for  the  next  move  of  the  fugutives 
in  this  wise : 

"When  we've  had  suthin'  to  eat,  we  mus'  go  to  the 
island  an'  lay  low  till  them  whelps  at  Marshall  has 
stopped  barkin'.'* 


PRECAUTIONS.  81 

^  ^Vliere  is  the  island,  and  what  sort  of  a  place  is 
r\  ^  asked  "Warren. 

"  Wail/  replied  Tennessee,  "  'taint  much  of  a  place 
ter  brag  on.  It's  over  in  Cadder  Lake,  'bout  six 
mile  from  har.  I've  got  a  shanty  over  thar,  that  I 
use  in  fisnm'  season.  It's  right  dry  sile,  and  thar's 
lots  of  feea  fur  the  critters  aroun'  it  at  this  time." 

"But  how  are  we  to  get  over  the  lake  to  the  isl- 
ands ?"  aske<i  Warren,  with  wondering  eyes. 

"  Oh  !  th^  water  is  shaller ;  we  kin  wade  over  on 
the  critters.  We've  got  to  go  thar,  kase  its  the  only 
safe  place,  (f  we  stays  har,  they'll  cotch  us,  sartin, 
and  then  I  A^ouldn't  give  a  chaw  of  terbaccy  for  all 
on  us.  Over  on  the  island  no  one  never  comes,  'cept 
mysel'.  They  doesn't  dream  thar's  anything  thar. 
When  you  'uns)  have  staid  a  few  days,  an'  all  is  quiet, 
I'll  come  an'  start  yeh  on  a  clar'  road." 

Both  Robert  and  Gaines  determined  to  place  the  ut-- 
most  reliance  in  their  guide,  and  told  him  they  would 
do  whatever  he  thought  best  in  the  matter. 

In  the  meantime,  Archy  had  shown  his  director 
that  he  needed  no  in/ormation  on  the  subject  of  cook- 
ing, for  he  piled  upon  the  plates  which  Tad  had  set 
savory  heaps  of  venison  steak,  fried  yams,  and  boiled 
black-fish,  besides  prepaiing  an  abimdance  of  aromatic 
coffee,  that  would  not  disgrace  a  Parisian  restaurant. 
While  the  four  white  mew  were  eating,  Archy  kept 
their  plates  covered  with  an  abundance  of  com  cakes, 
light  and  hot  from  the  griddle.  After  Archy  had 
eaten  his  breakfast,  he  went  out  with  Tennessee  and 
Tad  to  saddle  the  horses,  leaving  Robert  and  Gaines 
alone. 

"  I'm  afraid,"  said  Gaines,  "  this  is  anly  the  begin- 


.B2  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

tiing  of  our   troubles.     If  we  ever  get  to  Kentucky, 
it  will  be  after  much  trouble." 

"  "We  may  have  a  rough  time,  Gaines,  but  we  will 
get  there  all  right,  depend  on  it ;  and  then  we  will 
laugh  at  these  scrapes  we  are  passing  through.  Think 
of  what  fun  we  will  have,  in  days  to  come,  when  you 
come  to  see  me  and  Mrs.  WaiTcn,  and  we  tell  our 
w^ondering  wives  of  the  adventures  we  had  bringing 
the  flag  back  to  the  Brazos,  and,  I  might  add,  taking 
ourselves  away." 

Gaines  could  not  help  laughing  at  Robert's  pic- 
ture ;  but  his  despondency  soon  returned,  and  he 
repeated  his  old  sentiment,  that  principle,  not  hope, 
induced  him  to  keep  on. 

The  conversation  was  stopped,  as  Archy  approached, 
leading  the  horses. 

♦ '  Mauss  Robut,  de  bosses  is  fuss  rate  dis  mornin'. 
Don  is  skeery  as  a  colt,  an'  Senor  is  full  ob  pitch  as 
a  new  mustang," 

"  And  how  do  you  feel,  Archy?" 

"  I  feel,  Mauss  Robut,  as  if  de  good  Lor'  held  us 
in  de  holler  ob  his  hand,  an'  was  a  watchin'  behiu* 
de  clouds,  sayin',  'I'le  keerfor  yeh.'  " 

"There,  Gaines,  if  you  want  any  consolation,  con- 
sult Archy,  he  is  always  ready." 

*'  Yes,  Archy  has  always  a  consolation." 

Tennessee  and  Tad  here  interrupted  the  conversa- 
tion, as  they  appeared  with  two  bags  filled  with  meat, 
coffee,  meal,  and  other  necessaries  ;  besides  this.  Tad 
strapped  two  buffalo  robes  to  the  saddles  of  his  guests, 
and  begged  them  to  let  Tennessee  know  if  they  wanted 
anything  else  he  had,  after  they  got  to  the  island, 
and  he  would  send  it  to  them  at  once. 


ON  THE  ISLAND.  83 

Robert  tlianked  Tad  heartily  for  his  kindness,  and 
ofTered  to  pay  him,  but  the  generous  fellow  would  not 
listen  to  it,  so,  bidding  him  good-bye,  they  mounted 
their  horses  and  followed  Tad  to  the  lake. 

After  on  hour's  riding  they  reached  the  cane-brake 
along  the  shore,  and  pusliing  through,  they  were  soon 
v-ading  between  the  cypress  trees  that  grow  up  for 
some  distance  in  the  lake.     The  water  grew  deeper 
till  it  covered  the  back  of  Tennessee's  mustang,  but 
the  hardy  little  creature,  with  an  ambition  that  would 
do  credit  to  a  larger  horse,   pushed   boldly  in  the 
advance.     After   wading   for   an   horn',    they   passed 
through  the  cypress  trees,  and  came  to  the  margin  of 
the  island,   and  entered  an  open  field  of  deep  rich 
grass.     On  the  farther  side  of  the  field  was  the  log 
cabin  of  Tennessee,  which  was  soon  reached,  and  the 
animals  permitted  to  roll  on  the  grass. 

"  This  yer's  not  jist  a  beautiful  place,"  said  Tennes- 
see, "  but  ye'll  find  plenty  fur  the  critters,  an'  yeh  kin 
live  on  yer  rifles  like  Cherokee  chiefs.  After  I  get 
yeh  fixed,  I'm  goin'  back  ter  Marshall  and  fine  out 
what  that  cuss.  Rose,  is  a  doin'.  I  mayn't  be  back  for 
two  days.  I've  got  to  see  my  ole  woman  an'  the 
young  un's,  so's  to  get  'em  ready  to  live  alone  in  case 
I've  got  to  clar  out,  which  I  don't  keer  to  do,  'less  it 
gits  dangerous." 

On  entering  the  cabin  they  found  it  more  comfort- 
able than  its  outside  appearance  indicated.  The 
walls  were  chmked  and  the  floor  was  made  of  rough- 
hewn,  closely-fitted  cypress  slabs.  In  the  walls  great 
pegs  w^ere  driven,  from  which  hmig  the  fishing  tackle 
and  hunting  traps  of  Tennessee.  A  huge  fire-place 
occupied  one  end  of  the  shanty,  on  the  hearth  of 


84  '  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

which  Archy  had  soon  a  blazing  fire.  A  few  primi* 
tive  cooking  utensils  were  pointed  out  by  Tennessee, 
and  after  telling  them  where  to  procure  water  and  the 
best  points  for  game,  he  resaddled  his  mustang,  and 
giving  each  a  warm  grasp  of  the  hand,  repeated  his 
pledge  to  return.  Then,  slinging  his  rifle  over  his 
shoulder,  he  sprang  into  the  saddle,  and  was  soon  lost 
to  sight  'mid  the  cane-brake  and  the  cypress  groves. 


CHAPTEE  IX, 


tad's  cabin  burned. 
As  Tennessee  rode  away  from  the  island,  the  full 
danger  of  his  position  dawned  upon  him.     Before  this 
adventure,  the  secessionists  of  Marshall  had  looked 
upon  him  with  suspicion  ;  now  their  suspicions  would 
be  confinned,  and  their  hate  increased.     He  must  get 
away  as  soon  as  possble,  for  to  remain  now  would  be 
to  seek  death.     Of  course  he  would  have  to  see  his 
wife  and  children.     He  lived  in  a  thickly-settled  part 
of  the  town,  and  could  not  get  home  without  being 
seen.     Hose  was  watching  for  him,  no  doubt.     He 
knew  Rose  was  afraid  of  him ;   but  he  had  lots  of 
backing.     It  might  be  best  to  send  Tad  into  Marshall 
and  acquaint  his  wife  with  his  determmation  to  start 
for  Tennessee.     There  was  no  use  in  getting  into  dan- 
ger without  a  show,  though  it  would  be  gratifying  to 
take  a  shot  at  that  scoundrel.  Rose. 

Acting  on  the  wisest  suggestion  that  came  to  his 
mind,  Tennessee  retraced  his  trail  to  Tad's  cabin, 
which  he  reached  early  in  the  afternoon  ;  that  is,  he 
reached  the  place  where  Tad's  cabin  had  been  that 
morning.  The  still  smoldering  ruins  told  the  fate  of 
the  place.  Not  a  log  of  the  cabin  or  shed  or  fence 
was  left  to  tell  there  had  once  been  a  hospitable  little 


8 


86  TTARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

home  there.  There  were  blood  marks  on  the  ground 
leading  to  the  river.  Tennessee,  with  a  beating  heart, 
traced  them  to  the  water's  edge,  and  found  lodged 
against  a  snag  the  body  of  Rose's  horse.  Tad  had 
fought,  that  was  certain.  He  must  have  seen  the 
enemy  before  they  crossed  the  river,  and  given  fight. 
Tad  could  do  that,  but  what  was  the  noble  fellow's 
fate?  Tennessee  refused  to  answer  the  question  he 
had  raised,  but  he  hoped  the  best,  for  if  coolness, 
courage,  strength,  swiftness  of  foot,  and  a  knowledge 
of  the  country  would  avail,  Tad  would  turn  up  all 
right. 

Tennessee  turned  away  from  the  ruin,  and  crossing 
the  river  at  another  point,  he  plunged  into  the  woods, 
and,  with  no  trail  to  guide  him,  he  struck  a  bee-line 
for  Marshall.  Before  dark  he  rested  in  a  strip  of  woods 
within  sight  of  the  town,  and  examined  and  reloaded 
his  arms.  He  took  off  his  long  boots,  replacing  them 
with  a  pair  of  moccasins,  then  fastened  a  buckskin 
band  around  his  head,  and  threw  his  heavy  flaxen  hair 
behind  his  ears. 

"  Gus,  ole  boy,"  he  said  kindly,  addressing  his  horse, 
"  I  reckon  yeh'U  have  to  stay  here  alone.  Maybe  I 
won't  see  yeh  no  more,  an'  maybe  yeh'U  have  ter  do 
some  tall  runnin'  to-night.  But  yer  a  good  ole  fel, 
sartin.  Thar's  no  better  boss  in  these  diggius  than 
you,  Gus."  This  was  said  while  taking  off  the  saddle 
and  bridle.  "Graze  roun'  here  till  to-night,  an'  if 
I  don't  come  back  afore  mornin',  Gus,  yer  a  free  nig- 
ger.    Thar,  go !" 

Gus  walked  off  a  few  steps,  lay  down  against  a  lit- 
tle knoll,  as  horses  always  do,  and  tried  to  roll  up  it. 
He  made  several  able  but  unsuccessful  attempts,  then 


TENNESSEE  OVERPOWERED.  87 

giving  the  job  up  as  impracticable,  he  soon  shook 
himself,  rubbed  his  nose  against  his  master's  arm, 
and,  like  a  sensible  horse,  went  to  feeding. 

Placing  his  equipments  where  he  could  find  them 
readily,  under  cover  of  the  darkness,  Tennessee,  with 
the  cautious  step  of  a  deer  stalker,  walked  toward  the 
town.  He  was  within  ten  yards  of  his  own  little 
house,  so  far  unobserved,  and  his  heart  began  to 
throb  with  anxiety.  Suddenly  a  number  of  men 
sprang  to  their  feet  around  him  with  savage  yells, 
while  high  above  all  the  voice  of  Rose  was  heard 
shouting — 

"  Thar  he  is,  cuss  him !  Shoot  him !  cut  him  to 
pieces !" 

Tennessee  struck  the  nearest  man  to  him  to  the 
ground  with  his  clubbed  rifle,  and  the  others  fell  back 
before  a  second  sweep. 

"  Don't  fire  boys,  don't  fire  !"  said  Rose,  it'll  bring 
the  rest  of  the  pack  here  ef  yeh  do.  We  can  finish 
him  without  much  noise." 

"Wall  now.  Rose,"  said  Tennessee,  "  if  you  an'  the 
allfired  skunks  aroun'  yeh  think  they're  agoin'  to 
chaw  me  up  without  a  fuss,  yeh  ain't  much  on  the 
calculate.  By  the  ghost  of  G-eneral  Jackson,  if  you 
'uns  come  one  at  a  time,  I'll  fight  the  whole  on  yeh." 

Tennessee  loosed  the  flaps  of  the  pistols  in  his  belt 
and  drew  himself  up  to  his  full  height.  He  had  not 
long  to  wait,  for  in  a  body  the  whole  gang  rushed 
upon  him  with  uplifted  weapons  and  horrible  oaths. 
Tennessee  fired  his  pistols,  and  then  clubbed  his  rifle, 
and  they  gave  way  before  it.  He  heard  a  cheer  in 
the  distance  and  was  nerved,  for  he  felt  friends  near 
at  hand.     He  tried  to  get  back  to  the  house,  but  a 


88  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

powerful  blow  from  behind,  and  a  shot  from  the  front, 
brought  him  senseless  to  the  gi'ound.  His  death 
would  have  been  certain  and  instant  had  not  the 
sound  of  the  fight  brought  out  a  woman,  who  bore  in 
her  hand  a  hatchet.  She  rushed  to  the  place  where 
the  fallen  man  lay  bleeding,  and  with  a  terrible  blow 
felled  Rose  to  the  ground,  and  then  standing  over 
the  body  of  Tennessee,  she  shouted  her  hate  and  de- 
fiance of  the  cowards  who  had  tried  to  kill  her  hus- 
band. 

The  arrival  of  a  large  body  of  more  peacefully  in- 
clined citizens  stopped  further  bloodshed,  though,  to 
appease  the  anger  of  the  mob,  as  well  as  to  satisfy  the 
apparent  justice  of  the  charge  that  Tennessee  had 
killed  a  man  the  previous  evening,  he  was  carefully 
guarded  to  prison,  notwithstanding  there  was  no 
necessity  of  guarding  an  unconscious  man  who  had  to 
be  carried  to  the  jail. 

Tennessee's  wife  begged  to  stay  with  her  husband, 
but  her  prayers  were  unheeded,  and  the  body  was 
thrown  into  a  dark  cell,  and  the  door  locked. 

Next  morning  Tennessee  awoke  as  if  from  a  terrible 
dream.  His  clothing  was  fastened  to  the  floor  with  his 
clotted  blood.  His  head  seemed  bursting  with  pain,  and 
his  hair  was  stiff,  and  sore  to  the  touch.  One  arm  was 
swollen  and  powerless,  and  a  burning  thirst  seemed  to 
consume  him.  He  could  not  rise,  and  while  he  lay 
trying  to  recollect  his  thoughts,  and  the  incidents  of 
the  previous  evening,  a  man  came  in  with  some  bread 
and  water,  and  promised  to  bring  a  doctor  to  see  the 
prisoner  in  the  coiu-se  of  the  morning.  After  taking 
a  long  cooling  drink,  Tennessee  felt  stronger,  and  sit- 
ting up  he  poured  the  rest  of  the  water  on  his  head 


THE  CAPTIVE  IN  PRISON.  89 

and  face,  and  it  gave  him  new  strength.  He  rose  and 
struggled  to  the  little  window,  through  the  iron  bars 
of  which  the  dim  grey  light  shone,  and  the  damp 
chilling  wind  blew. 

He  looked  out,  and  in  an  instant  he  seemed  to  gi'ow 
faint,  and  with  his  sound  arm  he  clutched  at  a  bar  for 
support. 

*'  My  God  !"  he  cried  in  a  voice  of  intense  agony, 
"  Its  rainin',  its  rainin' !  Oh  the  flood,  the  flood,  an' 
the  island !" 

He  felt  a  s-wdmming  sensation  in  his  head,  and  fell 
fainting  to  the  floor. 

His  cry  brought  in  the  jailor,  and  with  the  assist- 
ance of  a  kind-hearted  doctor,  who  arrived  shortly 
after,  Tennessee's  bruises  were  washed,  and  he  was 
restored  to  consciousness.  He  had  hardly  opened  his 
eyes,  when  he  asked : 

"Has  the  rain  stopped,  or  is  it  rainin*,  or  is  it  my 
head?" 

*'It  is  raining,  Tennessee,"  said  the  jailor.  "I 
reckon  we're  in  for  the  flood,  sure  enough." 

The  wounded  man  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  looked 
out  through  the  bars,  and  he  saw  the  rain  coming 
down  in  torrents,  and  heard  it  beating  against  the 
prison  wall.  His  face  was  deathly  pale,  and  he  turned 
to  the  jailor. 

"Mr.  Roberts,  for  Grod's  sake  let  me  out  for  eight 
hours,  an'  I'll  come  back,  and  let  yeh  hang  me,  if  yeh 
want  ter.  Let  me  out !  Thar's  three  men  on  an  island 
in  the  lakes ;  T  took  them  thar.  Oh,  God !  let  me 
out,  or  they'll  be  drownded !  Roberts,  let  me  go  !  I'll 
keep  my  word,  true  as  Heaven.     I'll  come  back." 

"I  can't  let  you  go,  Tennessee.  It  ain't  in  ray 
8* 


DO  "WAEREN  OF  TEXAS. 

power.  And  if  the  three  men  are  those  fellers  that 
Rose  chased,  why,  if  they're  drowned,  it'll  save  their 
bein'  hanged." 

"  You  must  let  me  go.  By  the  eternal,  ten  thousand 
men  can't  keep  me  back !" 

Tennessee's  eyes  glowed  as  he  sprang  to  the  door. 
Roberts  tried  to  stop  him,  but  he  rushed  past  him. 
The  doctor  fled  at  the  first  sight  of  Tennessee's  eyes, 
and  called  loudly  for  help.  Tennessee  got  down  to  the 
yard.  He  saw  a  man  before  him  with  a  gun,  and  he 
heard  him  err,  "Stop!"  but  did  not  heed  him.  His 
wound  started  bleeding,  the  blood  blinded  him,  and 
as  he  rushed  madly  for  the  gate,  the  guard  struck 
him,  and  he  fell. 

When  Tennessee  recovered  he  was  back  in  his  cell, 
with  chains  upon  his  legs,  and  a  man  standing  at  the 
cell  door  with  a  gun  in  his  hand.  He  rose  and  looked 
out.  The  rain  was  still  pouring  do\sTi  as  if  it  would 
never  cease.  There  he  stood  for  hours,  and  every 
drop  against  the  bars  sunk  into  his  heart  like  molten 
iron.  He  felt  the  room  growing  hot,  and  the  veins  in  his 
neck  swelling.  He  opened  his  shirt  collar,  and  gasped 
for  breath.  Then  he  seized  the  bar  again  and  shook 
it.  It  seemed  loose,  and  a  thrill  of  joy  ran  through 
him,  as,  with  a  madman's  strength,  he  tore  it  from  its 
socket,  and  then  seized  another ;  but  before  he  could 
do  more,  he  was  seized  from  behind,  and  his  hands 
fastened  to  the  chain  which  bound  his  legs.  He  sat 
on  the  floor  listening  to  the  cruel  rain  against  the 
bars,  and  muttering,  "  The  flood,  the  flood  !" 

Night  came,  and  still  the  chained  man  sat  on  the 
floor,  and  the  armed  man  watched  outside  the  cell. 

"I'm   not   a   traitor.     I  didn't  deceive  yeh ;  'fore 


TENNESSEE  CONDEMNED.  fln 

God,  I  meant  to  help  yeli."  Tennessee  was  raving. 
"Don't  cuss  me  so.  I'd  die, to  save  yeh.  I'd  let  the 
wolves  eat  my  heart  out  if  I  could  get  yeh  off!  I 
see  the  water  is  gittin'  higher.  It's  up  to  yer  throats, 
and  the  island's  flooded !  Thar,  the  hosses  is  swim- 
min' ,  an'  the  men's  holdin  outer  the  shanty  logs ! 
How  dark  it  is !  They  can't  stan'  that  long.  Oh, 
God,  let  me  die  now,  so  I  kin  tell  'em  up  thar  it 
wasn't  my  blame !" 

The  strong  man  groaned  and  swayed  himself  on 
the  floor.  His  mutterings  grew  less  distinct  as  the 
night  waned.  He  imagined  he  saw  the  alligators 
eating  the  bodies  of  the  fugitives,  and  the  buzzards 
perched  on  the  dead  horses. 

Tennessee  suffered  with  a  brain  fever  and  his  wounds 
for  three  weeks.  When  he  recovered  he  was  but  a 
shadow  of  his  former  self.  His  beard  and  hair  had 
been  cut  off*,  his  blue  eyes  were  sunken  in  his  head, 
and  his  sallow  skin  was  drawn  like  parchment  over 
his  once  powerful  frame. 

After  he  was  restored  to  consciousness,  his  wife  and 
children  were  permitted  to  see  him,  and  at  their  first 
interview  even  the  jailor,  whose  heart  was  not  the 
tenderest,  was  melted  to  tears.  Tennessee's  wife  was 
permitted  to  visit  him  every  day,  till  he  got  strong 
enough  for  trial ;  and  that  judicial  farce  was  the  same 
in  the  case  of  Tennessee  as  in  that  of  hundreds  who 
were  sacri^ced  that  sprjng  in  Texas. 

Six  others  were  tried  v/ith  him,  accused  of  every 
crime,  and  found  guilty  of  but  one — treason  to  the 
confederacy.  People  grew  as  familiar  vvith  the  sen- 
tence of  death  as  in  the  reign  of  teiTor  in  France. 

Many  of  those  condemned  at  Marshall,  as  in  other 


9S  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

parts  of  Texas,  died  with  their  own  hands,  rather 
than  be  executed  on  the  gallows.  Tennessee's  wife, 
who  was  permitted  to  see  her  husband  the  day  after 
his  sentence,  and  two  days  before  the  time  set  apart 
for  his  execution,  proposed  to  bring  him  laudanum, 
thinking,  in  heart,  it  would  be  better  for  her  husband 
to  die  by  his  own  hands  ;  but  the  brave  fellow  replied  : 

"  Bet,  yell  means  right,  I  know ;  and  I'm  sure,  ole 
gal,  yeh'd  peg  out  yersel'  to  save  me  ;  but  I  can't  do 
this." 

"  Yes,  Jim,  I'd  give  my  heart's  blood  to  keep  yeh 
livin*  a  day,  for  God  knows  what  I'll  do  when  yeh're 
gone.  But  others  do  it,  Jim ;  an'  I  don't  want  the 
young  un'  s,  when  they  grow  up,  to  have  it  said  their 
dad  ^YVI2.  hung,"  said  Tennessee's  wife. 

"You  bet,"  replied  Tennessee,  "and  I  don't  want 
it  cas'  up  ter  the  young  'uns  that  their  dad  wuz  a  cow- 
ard. I  know,  Bet,  other  fel's  have  tuk  laudnum,  but 
d — d  if  it  ain't  a  sneakin'  way  of  gittin'  rid  of 
trouble.  Then,  Bet,  I  want  yeh  to  keep  the  young 
*uns  posted  about  another  worl'.  I've  thought  rite 
smart  'bout  it  uv  late,  an'  if  I've  got  ter  die,  fact  is, 
I  don't  want  the  Great  Mausser  to  boost  me  fur  killin* 
mysel'." 

Bet  held  down  her  head  and  clasped  her  strong, 
coarse  hands  before  her,  but  uttered  no  groan  or  sob. 
For  several  minutes  there  was  a  solemn  silence  in  the 
condemned  man's  cell ;  then  slowly  she  raised  her 
head,  and  looking  into  her  husband's  eyes  with  a  wild 
earnestness,  she  said  in  a  strong  whisper : 

"  Jim,  ain't  it  wuth  while  ter  try  gittin'  off?  Yeh 
know  yeh  did  that  once  when  the  'Bapahoes  had  jest 
got  ready  to  kill  yeh," 


A  GLEAM  OF  HOPE.  93 

"Now,  ole  woman,  yer  head's  gittin'  level,"  said 
Tennessee,  with  a  genuine  smile.  "That's  the  idea. 
"Why,  yeh  knows.  Bet,  I  ain't  one  of  them  fellers  as 
jist  gins  out.  When  I  git  like  that,  yeh  may  bet  yer 
pile  thar  wont  be  no  use  tryin'." 

"  Wall,  Jim,  I  wuz  a  loon  not  ter  see  that.  Now, 
have  yeh  any  plan,  an'  kin  I  help  yeh?  Say  yes,  an' 
don't  count  my  risk." 

"  Wall,  I  reckon  yeh  kin  do  purty  near  all.  Yeh 
got  my  saddle  an'  things  all  right,  an'  foun'  Gus?" 

"  Yes." 

"Wall,  that's  good.  Now,  Sam  Baker  an'  Joe 
Thompson  an'  me  has  things  fixed  to  bust  this  shanty 
to-morrow  night,  'bout  twelve.  I'll  git  out,  or  die 
tryin',  that's  fixed.  Now,  Bet,  yeh  mus'  have  Grus  an' 
all  my  traps,  rifle  and  knife,  at  Diller's  Run.  An'  yeh 
mus'  git  two  more  bosses.  Tell  Alick  Taylor  all  'bout 
it,  an'  he'll  help  yeh.  An',  ole  gal,  hang  on  thar  till 
day,  if  I  don't  come." 

Bet  promised  to  do  this,  and  was  about  to  leave,  as 
the  jailor  appeared,  when  she  asked  Tennessee  if  she 
could  do  anything  more  for  him  :  "  Yes,  Bet,  ole  gal, 
as  I've  only  short  time  to  live,  bring  the  young  'uns  to 
see  me  to-morrow — little  Bet,  and  the  Ginral,  and  Cap 
May.  The  yoimg  un's  are  hard  to  beat,  Bet ;  an'  I 
want  the  boys  to  see -their  father  ain't  a  coward." 


CHAPTER   X 


ON    THE   ISLAND. 

In  this  story  there  is  no  plot ;  it  proposes  to  be  sim- 
ply a  narrative  of  a  genuine  hero,  well  knowTi  to  the 
writer.  But  it  is  found  necessary,  in  order  to  keep 
before  the  reader  those  persons  in  whom  he  or  she 
may  be  interested,  to  vary  the  chapters  by  giving  the 
cotemporaneous  incidents  in  the  life  of  each  at  this 
time. 

After  Tennessee  had  left  the  island,  the  fugitives 
for  a  time  were  interested  in  the  novelty  of  their  sit- 
uation, and  they  were  busy  in  their  efforts  to  make 
the  cabin  as  comfortable  as  possible.  Archy  had  a 
bom  genius  for  cooking  and  making  a  few  simple  ar- 
ticles of  food  seem  a  bountiful  variety.  While  Rob- 
ert and  Graines  were  fixing  places  for  their  beds,  and 
cleaning  their  arms,  a  dinner  was  being  prepared  in 
keeping  vriih  the  keen  appetites  of  all. 

After  dinner,  Robert  and  Gaines  wrote  letters  to 
the  dear  ones  at  home ;  not  that  there  appeared  to  be 
at  the  time  the  faintest  hope  of  their  ever  reaching 
those  for  whom  they  were  penned — indeed,  both  men 
felt  very  sure  the  letters  would  never  be  mailed — yet, 
on  the  gloomy  island,  shut  out  from  the  world,  the 
impulse  to  wTite  was  strong.    There  are  times  in  every 


THE  INPENDING  STORM.  95 

life  when  the  heart  is  full  of  joy  or  sorrow,  and  when 
the  whispering  of  oiu-  feelings  to  a  friendly  ear,  or  the 
penning  of  them  to  a  distant  friend,  eases  the  burdened 
soul.  Though  friends  may  not  hear  us,  it  is  a  pleas- 
ure to  whisper  to  ourselves  what  we  would  say  were 
they  near ;  and  though  they  never  read  what  may  be 
written,  it  rests  the  heart  to  wTite  what  we  would  have 
them  read. 

Toward  evening  Kobert  and  Gaines  shouldered  their 
rifles,  and  leaving  Archy  to  watch  the  horses,  they 
strolled  to  the  point  where  Tennessee  thought  they 
might  find  game.  They  were  successful  in  killing  a 
number  of  ducks  and  other  birds,  and  in  obtaining  a 
better  knowledge  of  the  island.  At  its  highest  point 
it  was  not  four  feet  above  the  present  lake  level,  and 
a  slight  rise  in  the  waters  would  not  only  submerge 
the  island,  but  also  the  opposite  shores  of  the  lake, 
equally  flat,  and  convert  two  hundred  square  miles  of 
country,  ordinarily  dry,  into  a  shallow,  muddy  lake, 
across  which  no  animal  could  wade.  Robert  Warren 
felt  the  danger  of  his  position,  and  at  the  same  time 
he  did  not  blame  himself  for  being  there,  nor  doubt 
for  an  instant  the  fidelity  of  Tennessee. 

Gaines  appeared  cast  down,  and  as  they  returned  to 
the  cabin  his  eyes  were  often  raised  to  the  sky,  over 
which  clouds,  black  and  threatening,  began  to  gather. 
Entering  the  cabin  they  found  Archy  singing  and 
cheerfully  preparing  the  evening  meal. 

By  8  o'clock  it  was  pitchy  dark,  and  a  low,  wailii^.g 
sound  came  down  from  the  cypress  boughs,  Kobert 
opened  the  door,  and  taking  a  torch  went  out  to  see 
if  the  horses  were  all  right,  for  they  had  been  tramp- 
ing restlessly,  and  tugging  at  their  lariats.     By  the 


96  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

dim  light  of  the  torch  he  could  see  the  cypress  boughs 
above  the  cabin  waving,  although  no  air  appeared  to 
be  stirring,  and  the  long,  grey  moss,  pendent  from  the 
branches,  swayed  back  and  forth  like  weird  plumes. 
The  dismal  effect  was  increased  as  at  times  the  shrill 
scream  of  a  heron  came  up  from  the  gloomy  shores. 
Robert  returned  to  the  cabin,  where  a  huge  fire  was 
burning,  before  which  Gaines  and  Archy  were  silently 
sitting.  Taking  a  seat  between  them,  he  assumed  a 
cheerful  tone,  and  said : 

*'  We  ought  to  be  thankful  for  having  shelter  over 
our  heads  to-night,  for  we  will  have  a  gulf  squall, 
which  won't  last  long,  but  they  are  unpleasant  to  be 
out  in,  nevertheless." 

"I  don't  like  our  position,  Robert,"  said  Gaines, 
raising  his  head  from  between  his  hands.  "  This  is 
the  flood  season,  and  the  waters  may  rise  at  any  hour. 
Supposing  we  were  to  perish  on  this  island,  who  would 
ever  know  the  fact,  beyond  the  man  who  brought  us 
here,  or  his  partner.  Tad?" 

"  Mauss  Andy,  said  xArcLy,  ceasing  to  make  figures 
in  the  ashes  with  the  wooden  poker,  "  de  good  Lor* 
would  know  it.  He  watches  ober  us,  an'  w^ill  protec* 
us  wid  His  mighty  arms.  An'  I  don't  tink,  nohow.  He 
fotched  us  har  to  be  drownded." 

*'That  may  be,  Archy,"  replied  Gaines,  "but  God 
has  often  seen  fit  to  place  better  men  in  worse  positions.'* 

"  Yes,  Mauss  Andy,  an'  He  fotched  de  chillen  from 
de  fiery  furnace,  jes'  as  if  thar'd  been  no  fiah  thar.'* 

*'  TVell,  Archy,  I  think  it  will  require  a  similar  mir- 
acle to  save  us." 

Robert  started  up  and  again  looked  out,  remarking 
as  he  did : 


NEAKER  AND  NEARER.  97 

"I  don't  think  that  man  Tennessee  would  have 
brought  us  here  if  there  were  any  immediate  danger 
from  the  flood.  He  knoAvs  the  country,  and  he  is  not 
so  far  distant  that  he  could  not  return  in  a  few  hours, 
if  he  thought  we  were  not  safe." 

As  Robert  gazed  out  his  words  for  the  moment  fal- 
sified his  fears. 

*'That  man  maybe  honest,  Robert,"  said  Gaines, 
*'  and  he  may  not.  If  a  scoundrel,  why  has  he  trapped 
us?  and  we  are  as  safely  caged  as  if  ten  thousand 
men  were  guarding  us." 

"Well,  Graines,  all  that  is  possible,"  said  Robert, 
"  and  if  true,  that  man  Tennessee  is  a  paradox,  and 
I  cannot  conceive  such  a  contradiction."  Then  with 
more  emphasis  he  continued,  "I  will  not  permit  my- 
self to  believe  it ;  even  though  we  perish  on  this 
island,  I  will  still  believe  Tennessee  faithful  to  us." 

"Neber  yeh  feah,  Mauss  Robut,  we'se  a  comin* 
out  right.  Why,  Mauss  Tennessee'U  come  back 
bimeby,  an'  larf  at  us  fur  'spectin'  him." 

Again  the  three  men  gathered  around  the  fire, 
while  louder  and  louder  came  the  wailing  from  the 
cypress  boughs,  and  at  times  a  pattering  could  be 
heard  on  the  clap-boards  overhead,  and  the  restless 
tramping  of  the  horses  outside.  Archy  broke  the 
silence  in  the  cabin  by  singing  in  a  voice  of  peculiar 
sweetness  one  of  those  religious  songs  so  often  heard 
among  the  negroes  on  southern  plantations.  When 
he  had  finished,  the  two  white  men  rose  and  together 
stretched  themselves  on  the  bed  they  had  prepared 
in  the  corner,  and  despite  the  screeching  of  the  winds 
they  were  soon  sleeping  soundly. 

Archy  still  sat  by  the  fire,  resting  his  face  between 
d 


08  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

his  hands,  and  thinking  of  the  little  cabin  far  away 
in  Gonzelletta.  His  lips  moved  as  if  praying,  and  at 
times  the  words  came  in  whispers,  "Heah  de  prayer, 
Lor',  heah  de  prayer !  Oh,  sabe  Mauss  Robut !  Good 
Lor',  sabe  him."  So  till  midnight  he  sat ;  till  the 
winds  grew  hoarse  with  their  wailing  and  roared  in 
anger  around  the  cabin.  Archy  was  about  to  lie 
down,  but  suddenly  the  wind  stopped  as  if  for  rest. 
The  sleepers  grew  restless  under  the  stillness,  and 
outside  the  horses  crowded  together  as  if  to  shelter 
each  other  from  the  coming  storm.  So  it  continued 
for  some  twenty  minutes.  Then  came  a  rushing 
sound,  louder  and  louder.  It  rose  like  a  prelude  to 
nature's  grandest  opera,  the  coming  storm.  A  flash 
lit  up  the  cabin  for  an  instant ;  then,  as  if  a  signal  to 
commence,  a  sharp,  stirring  report  belched  out.  A 
moment,  and  along  the  sky  ran  the  rattle  as  if  from 
lines  of  giant  musketry.  Deeper  and  thicker  came 
the  firing ;  but  it  seemed  like  a  skirmish  line  com- 
pared to  the  deep  reverberations  that  followed.  The 
thunder  ceased.  Then  came  a  gust  of  wind  that 
shook  the  cabin — an  instant  of  ominous  stillness — a 
rushing  sound — then  down  in  torrents  poured  the 
loosened  waters. 

The  sleepers  started  wildly  up.  Gaines's  face  was 
the  picture  of  terror,  and  Warren's  thin  lips  were 
pale  and  compressed.  Robert  opened  the  door  and 
looked  out  in  the  direction  of  the  horses.  It  was 
but  for  an  instant ;  then  with  all  his  strength  he 
pushed  it  to,  and  fastened  it  with  a  peg,  while  a 
shudder  ran  through  him. 

"This  is  terrible,'*  he  said,  as  he  pulled  on  his 
boots,  and  directed  Archy  to  throw  some  wood  on  the 


THE  TEMPEST  ON.  99 

fire.  The  additional  fuel  was  of  no  avail.  Through 
the  wide-topped  chimney  the  rain  came  down,  and 
soon  extinguished  the  fire  and  filled  the  darkened 
cabin  with  steam.  Here  and  there  a  pattering  could 
be  heard  on  the  floor,  where  the  water  came  through 
the  frail  roof.  The  three  men  crept  close  together, 
and  anxiously  waited  for  the  tardy  light. 

It  is  said  that  in  the  afternoon  at  Waterloo,  when 
the   sweeping  masses  of  the  French  went  surging 
around  and  grinding  down  the  stubborn  squares  of 
*' England's  Iron  Duke,"  he  often  looked  up  at  the 
Blow  sun,  and  prayed  it  might  go  down,  or  Blucher 
come  to  the  rescue.     With  as  much  anxiety  did  Rob- 
ert Warren  count  the  slow,  black  minutes,  and  pray 
for  the  breaking  of  day  or  the  ceasing  of  the  storm. 
Morning  at  last  dawned,  but  brought  with  it  no 
cessation  of   the   rain.     The   cabin  was   leaking  at 
every  seam,  and  every  article  in  it  was  soaked  with 
water.     The  Mexican  blankets  of  the  fugitives  kept 
them  dry  in  part.     They  had  no  food  cooked,  and  no 
means  of  cooking  any,  which  fact  did  not  add  to  the 
comfort  of  their  situation. 

"We  must  leave  this  place  immediately,"  said 
Robert.  "  If  we  are  to  go  down,  we  must  do  so  re- 
sisting fate." 

"Mus'  I  saddle  up  at  once,  Mauss  Robert?"  asked 
Archy,  anticipating  his  master's  order. 

"Yes,  as  quickly  as  you  can.  Mr.  Gaines  and  I 
will  bundle  up  the  traps  inside."  Tmiiing  to  Gaines, 
Robert  asked  if  he  thought  he  could  retrace  his 
course  of  the  previous  day  across  the  lake. 

»'No,  I  cannot,"  said  Gaines,  -for  I  did  not  look 
back  to  notice,  when  we  reached  this  side,  a  landmark." 


100  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"Well,  I  did,"  said  Eobert,  "and  I  think  I  can 
make  the  exact  point  on  the  opposite  shore  where  we 
entered  the  lake." 

In  a  short  time  the  horses  were  read}-,  and  the  men 
were  riding  away  from  the  cabin.  The  island  had 
become  so  thoroughly  soaked  that  the  horses  sank  to 
their  knees  at  every  step,  and  stumbled  through  mud- 
holes  that  would  have  swamped  less  spirited  animals. 
They  passed  through  the  margin  of  the  canebrake, 
and,  with  Robert  ahead,  they  were  soon  wading  among 
the  cypress  trees,  and  steering  clear  of  the  floating 
logs  that  beset  their  course.  They  had  gone  about 
five  hundred  yards,  beyond  the  tree  line,  when  sud- 
denly Robert's  horse  descended,  and  with  wild 
struggles  was  plunging  through  the  deep  water.  Be- 
fore him  for  two  miles  stretched  the  lake,  too  deep  to 
wade  and  too  wide  to  swim.  To  attempt  it  would  be 
madness,  so  he  turned  his  horse  and  shouted,  "  Get 
back !  get  back  !  We  can't  make  it."  And  back  to 
the  cabin  they  retraced  their  steps. 

They  took  the  horses  inside  with  them,  and  all  day 
they  stood  praying  for  the  rain  to  cease,  but  with  a 
steady  fury  it  continued,  and  a  second  cheerless  night 
came  to  the  fugitives. 

Slowly  the  hours  rolled  by,  bringing  no  abatement 
to  the  storm.  A  second  morning  struggled  through 
the  gloom,  and  disclosed  the  flood  sweeping  around 
the  cabin,  and  the  green  field  converted  into  a  turbid 
lake. 

"What  shall  we  do?"  asked  Gaines  in  a  tremulous 
voice,  after  they  had  siu^^eyed  their  position  in  silence. 

"We  must  do,'*  replied  Robert,  "what  you  and  I 
have  often  done  before  on  the  Brazos — make  a  raft. 


A  PLAN  TO  ESCAPE.  101 

There  is  plenty  of  material  here.  "We  can  construct 
one  to  float  ourselves  and  hold  up  the  horses'  heads, 
in  case  they  give  out." 

"That  may  be.  But,  Robert,  where  can  we  go  to? 
The  whole  country  is  flooded.  The  horses  are  too 
much  exhausted  to  swim  far,  and  we  are  too  nearly 
played  out  to  do  much  controlling  of  the  raft." 

*'  That  is  all  true,  Gaines,  but  it  is  our  only  plan.  If 
the  horses  die,  we  can  cut  them  loose ;  and  if  w^e  get 
too  much  exhausted  to  work  the  raft,  we  must  trust  to 
Providence  and  the  current  to  take  us  somewhere  in 
safety.'' 

There  was  no  objection  to  this  plan,  so  the  men 
were  soon  at  work  on  the  raft. 

They  tore  dow^n  the  cabin,  and  w-ith  Tennessee's 
seine  ropes  fastened  the  logs  together.  They  then 
tore  up  the  floor  and  nailed  the  cypress  slabs  com- 
posing it  over  the  logs.  Three  stakes  were  fastened, 
about  two  feet  apart,  at  the  end  of  the  raft,  to  which 
they  could  attach  the  horses.  After  preparing  the 
raft  and  placing  all  their  equipments  on  it,  Archy 
waded  out  to  the  timber  and  cut  a  couple  of  long 
poles  with  which  to  guide  the  raft. 

Everything  being  ready,  the  horses  were  made  fast, 

and  the  three  men  sat  down  on  the  raft  to  wait  for  a 

gi-eater  depth  of  w^ater  to  float  them.     By  noon  the 

water  was  sufficiently  high,  and  the  raft  was  guided 

out  to  the   canebrake.     Through  the  cypress   trees 

they  floated,  and  as  the  water  deepened  the  ropes  by 

which  the  horses  were  fastened  were  made  shorter. 

Out  further,  and  the  horses  w^ere  beyond  their  depth, 

and  with  explosive   breathings  and  dilated  nostrils 

they  swam  close  to  the  raft,  as  if  they  would  force 
a* 


102  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

themselves  on  it.  The  poles,  however,  still  touched 
bottom,  and  Robert  and  his  servant  used  them  while 
Gaines  kept  the  horses  close  to  the  raft  and  attended 
to  their  fastenings. 

They  floated  with  the  open  lake,  the  rain  still  pour- 
ing down,  and  night  approaching.  The  poles  no 
longer  touched  bottom  ;  they  used  them  for  padcUes, 
and  the  distant  shore  seemed  washing  away  before 
them.  The  exertions  of  the  horses  lessened,  and 
Gaines's,  without  an  effort,  permitted  himself  to  be 
towed  behind.  Slowly  they  moved,  quickly  the  light 
lessened,  and  a  third  black,  dreary  night  Qame  to  the 
famishing  men,  to  increase  the  horror  of  their  situa- 
tion. 

It  might  have  been  two  hours  after  the  darkness 
came — it  seemed  an  age — when  the  rafl  struck  against 
a  tree,  then  slowly  swung  past.  Another  and  another 
bump,  and  they  were  going  through  the  cypress  trees, 
that  should  denote  a  neighboring  shore.  A  short 
distance  further  and  they  felt  the  raft  moving  over 
masses  of  yielding  cane.  The  men  at  the  poles 
v/orked  with  renewed  strength.  Two  of  the  horses 
with  labored  efforts  waded  behind.  The  raft  struck 
some  soft  substance  with  a  dull  thug.  Archy  turned 
and  drove  his  pole  into  a  bank  of  clay,  and  with  a 
shout  of  joy  he  called  out : 

"Bress  de  good  Lor'  !    Bress  Heaven,  we's  saved  !" 

Jumping  on  shore  he  quickly  made  fast  the  raft, 
while  Robert  and  Gaines  unfastened  the  horses.  Two 
of  them  staggered  up  the  bank,  but  the  wiry  mustang 
of  Gaines,  which  had  borne  him  so  often  and  faith- 
fully on  the  southern  prairies,  sank  cold  and  dead 
when  they  loosed  his  rope. 


CHAPTEE  XI, 


SAVED,    AND   YET   LOST. 

The  breeding  of  a  horse  is  tested,  not  by  momen- 
tary strength  or  swiftness,  but  by  the  power  of  endur- 
ance. The  thorough-breds  of  Warren  and  his  servant 
lived  where  other  horses  would  have  died.  The  ex- 
pressions of  love  which  Archy  lavished  on  the  noble 
creatures,  as  they  stood  on  the  muddy  bank,  the  w^a- 
ter  dripping  from  their  sleek  sides,  showed  how  he 
appreciated  their  efforts,  and  what  a  loss  their  death 
would  have  been  to  him. 

After  resting  the  horses  a  short  time,  and  making 
the  raft  fast  so  that  they  might  retura  to  it  if  neces- 
sary, they  strapped  then-  saddle-bags,  with  Gaines's 
equipments,  on  the  two  animals,  and  started  out 
through  the  darkness.  The  men  were  thoroughly  ex- 
hausted, but  there  was  no  place  for  rest.  They  were 
as  ignorant  of  their  whereabouts  as  if  they  had  been 
suddenly  dropped  on  an  unknown  planet.  They  might 
be  running  into  the  very  jaws  of  danger,  but  even 
that  was  preferable  to  the  horrors  of  the  lake. 
Through  the  dark  woods  and  the  damp  pendent  moss, 
over  logs  and  under  vines  they  walked,  straining  their 
eyes  through  the  darkness,  hoping  for  a  light.  They 
had  stmggled  on  in  this  way  for  some  time,  when  sud 


101  WARREN   OF  TEXAS. 

denly  they  ran  against  a  fence,  and  this  unex- 
pected obstacle  was  hailed  v.ith  delight.  Letting  it 
do\Mi,  they  entered  a  newly-plowed  field,  and  after 
rising  a  slight  ascent  a  few  hundred  yards  beyond, 
their  eyes  were  gladdened  by  the  faint  glimmering  of 
a  distant  light.  They  pushed  on,  their  weary  limbs 
infused  with  a  new  strength,  and  in  a  short  time 
reached  another  fence,  which  they  let  down,  taking 
care  to  put  it  up  after  passing  through.  A  little  dis- 
tance beyond  they  found  that  the  light  came  from  one 
of  an  extensive  gi'oup  of  negro  cabins.  Robert  rap- 
ped at  the  door,  and  on  its  being  opened  he  found  a 
sick  black  man  lying  in  one  comer,  with  a  doctor  in 
attendance,  whose  large,  frank  face  bespoke  a  gener- 
ous heart. 

To  him  they  made  known  their  condition  ;  they  had 
lost  their  way  ;  they  were  wet,  cold,  and  hungry,  and 
wanted  food  and  rest.  Never  did  a  stranger  make 
such  an  appeal  to  a  southern  man  without  meeting 
with  a  warm  response. 

The  doctor  told  them  they  were  at  Bastrop's  plan- 
tation, three  miles  and  a  half  from  the  lake,  and 
northwest  of  Shreveport. 

"  I  supposed  that  w^as  our  location  as  we  passed 
Shreveport,"  said  Robert ;  "but  I  must  say,  I  cannot 
place  myself  with  relation  to  Marshall." 

"Why,"  said  the  doctor  in  surprise,  "you  were  not 
surely  going  to  Marshall  ?  Is  is  forty  miles  from  here 
as  the  crow  flies,  and  in  the  present  condition  of  the 
roads  you  would  have  to  go  over  tw^ice  that  distance 
to  reach  it." 

"No,  I  left  Marshall  some  days  ago,  and  after 
passing  Shreveport  I  pushed  out  on  the  Monroe  road. 


TRUE  SOUTHERN  HOSPITALITT.  105 

I  hoped  to  reach  some  tavern  by  dark,  but  so  far 
without  success.  Important  business  calls  me  to 
Kentucky,  and  I  am  anxious  to  push  through  as  fast 
as  possible." 

"Well,  you  are  but  a  short -distance  off  the  direct 
road.  But  let  us  go  to  the  house  ;  Mr.  Bastrop  has 
not  yet  retired,  and  I  can  say  for  him  that  he  will  be 
right  glad  to  see  you,  and  extend  to  you  his  hospi- 
tality." 

On  reaching  the  house  they  found  that  the  family 
had  not  yet  retired.  Mr.  Bastrop,  an  elderly  and 
somewhat  pompous  man,  with  a  fine  form  and  a  ge- 
nial face,  received  the  strangers  with  marked  kind- 
ness. He  gave  directions,  even  before  he  learned 
the  condition  of  the  fugitives,  to  have  their  horses 
attended  to  and  supper  prepared.  Nor  did  the 
thoughtful  gentleman  forget  Archy,  for,  seeing  that 
the  black  man  looked  fatigued,  he  ordered  a  servant 
to  take  chcg-ge  of  him,  and  see  that  he  had  food  and 
rest.  Then  accompanying  Robert  and  Gaines  to  a 
room,  he  provided  them  with  dry  clothing,  and  after 
a  refreshing  wash,  the  two  men  returned  to  the  sup- 
per room,  where  they  found  a  warm  meal  awaiting 
them. 

Mr.  Bastrop,  after  Robert  had  given  him  a  short, 
but  by  no  means  inaccurate  account  of  the  circum- 
stances that  led  them  to  his  house,  evidenced  a  desire 
to  talk,  but  noticing  the  really  exhausted  condition 
of  his  guests,  he  turned  to  the  doctor  and  said  : 

*'  Our  friends  are  weary,  I  see.  Now,  doctor,  I  am 
sure  they  need  prescribing  for ;  I  will  have  them  shown 
to  their  rooms  and  we  can  consult  over  their  cases 
alone." 


106  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Lights  were  quickly  provided,  and  Robert  and 
Gaines  followed  the  servant  to  their  comfortable  beds. 
It  was  a  luxury,  after  sixty  hours  of  work,  and  wet, 
and  hunger,  and  anxiety,  to  lie  down  between  clean 
sheets,  on  a  soft  bed,  and  listen  without  a  dr^ad  to 
the  patter,  patter,  patter,  of  the  ceaseless  rain  which 
a  few  hours  before  sounded  like  a  death-call. 

Robert  straightened  out  in  the  bed  and  gave  a  great 
sigh  of  relief,  at  the  same  time  that  a  servant  knocked 
at  the  door,  and  being  told  to  "  come  in,"  he  entered 
bearing  a  small  silver  waiter,  around  which  hovered 
a  vail-like  vapor,  and  a  delicious  aroma.  There  was 
a  glass  with  a  spoon  in  it,  and  sundry  yellow  particles 
floating  on  the  surface. 

"  Mausser,"  said  the  servant,  showing  his  white 
teeth,  "Mauss  Jack  an  de  doctah  sends  dis  wid  dere 
compelments,  an  says  it  am  de  medicine,  an'  it  ain't 
no  good  'cept  yeh  drink  it  hot." 

Robert  raised  the  glass  and  took  a  long  draught. 
There  was  something  about  the  taste  not  unlike  Tad's 
^'suthin  hot,"  only  in  a  more  refined  way.  The  med- 
icine was  taken.  Robert  drew  the  warm  covering 
around  him ;  a  gentle  perspiration  broke  from  every 
pore,  and  deep,  refreshing  sleep  came  to  make  him 
forgetful  of  his  lately  perilous  situation. 

How  long  he  w^ould  have  slept  is  doubtful  had  not 
a  servant  av/oke  him  about  daylight,  and,  according 
to  the  charming  custom  of  the  country,  presented 
him  a  cup  of  delicious  coffee.  He  drank  it,  and  a 
soft,  dreamy  sleep  foUovred,  that  lasted  till  nine  o'clock. 

Robert  rose  of  his  own  accord,  feeling  like  a  new 
man,  and  on  descending  he  found  breakfast  waiting 
him.     Gaines  was  still  asleep,  and  Mr.   Bastrop,  in 


HAPPY  DISCOVERT.  107 

answer  to  Robert's  suggestion  to  wake  him,  said, 
*'  No  ;  the  poor  fellow  is  tired  ;  let  him  sleep  as  long 
as  he  chooses." 

Mr.  Bastrop  then  introduced  Robert  to  his  wife  and 
daughters,  and  proceeded  to  breakfast.  During  the 
meal  he  said : 

"  Mr.  "Warren,  your  name  is  very  familiar  to  me. 
May  I  inquire  where  you  came  from?" 

*' Certainly,  sir,"  replied  Robert.  "My  father  and 
his  immediate  family  live  in  southern  Texas,  and  I 
am  on  my  v/ay  to  Kentucky  to  visit  an  uncle  who  re- 
sides there." 

"Is  your  father's  first  name  Robert,  and  did  he 
come  originally  from  South  Carolina  ?" 

"You  have  hit  his  name,  sir;  and  he  is  a  South 
Carolinian  by  birth,"  said  Robert,  looking  up  in  surprise. 

"  Then,"  said  Mr.  Bastrop,  seizing  Robert's  hand 
across  the  table,  "your  father  and  I  were  college 
chums,  and  sworn  friends  in  days  gone  past.  Why,'* 
continued  Mr.  Bastrop,  with  increased  warmth,  "I 
am  delighted  to  have  a  son  of  Bob  "Warren  under 
my  roof,  and  T  hope  to  be  able  to  keep  him  here  till 
he  wearies  of  his  father's  friend." 

Robert  looked  and  spoke  his  thanks,  but  told  Mr. 
Bastrop  that  he  regretted  he  would  have  to  leave 
as  soon  as  his  friend  and  servant  were  recruited  and 
the  horses  rested. 

"Yes,  Mr.  Warren,  you  have  all  your  father's  en- 
ergy, and  look  like  him,  too ;  don't  you  think  so, 
Mollie,"  addressing  the  daughter  who  sat  near  him. 

Miss  Mollie,  who  had  never  seen  the  father,  and 
had  only  stolen  a  glance  at  the  son,  blushed  as  she 
replied : 


108  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"It  must  be  so,  papa,  though  I  regret  I  never  met 
Mr.  Warren's  Either." 

"Yes,  to  be  sure.  But,  wife,  you  have,"  and  Mr. 
Bastrop  turned  to  his  wife,  who,  taking  a  pleasant 
look  at  Mr.  Warren,  corroborated  her  husband's 
view. 

"Well,"  continued  Mr.  Bastrop,  "you  will  not 
think  of  leaving  under  a  week,  for,  depend  upon  it, 
Mr.  Warren,  you  will  need  all  your  vigor  in  the  com- 
ing war  for  southern  rights."  Mr.  Bastrop  looked  at 
Robert,  who  was  busy  with  some  dish  before  him,  and 
went  on :  "  Of  course,  I  need  not  ask  your  father's 
son  on  which  side  his  sympathies  are.  Though  I 
must  say,  Robert  Warren  was  never  a  Calhoun  man, 
nor,  indeed,  was  I,  though  we  both  see  now  that  the 
great  South  Carolinian  was  right  " 

"  You  have  not  mistaken  the  feelings  of  my  father 
nor  myself  in  this  matter,  Mr.  Bastrop,  so  far  as 
southern  rights  are  concerned ;  but  we  both  question 
the  wisdom  of  secession.  I  think  it  would  be  easier 
to  battle  for  our  rights  in  the  Union  as  statesmen, 
than  to  attempt  a  forced  recognition  of  them  by  the 
bayonet." 

"I  did  not  favor  the  movement  of  South  Carolina 
myself.  But  we  are  in  for  it.  However,  I  do  not 
anticipate  trouble.  There  will  be  no  war,  Mr.  War- 
ren. Say  what  we  may  about  the  Yankees,  we  can- 
not •  deny  their  shrewdness,  and  they  know  full  well 
they  would  stand  no  chance  before  southern  gentle- 
men." As  Mr.  Bastrop  spoke,  he  straightened  up  in 
his  chair,  and  his  handsome  face  glowed  with  earnest- 
ness as  he  concluded  :  "As  an  old  man  I  have  been 
happy  till  the  last  few  weeks,  and  now,  Mr.  Warren, 


A  GUARDED  TONGUE.  109 

I  would  give  up  everything  to  be  able  to  take  part  in 
the  war,  if  we  are  to  have  one." 

"I  certainly  admire  your  spirit,  Mr.  Bastrop,  and  I 
hope  the  cause  of  your  unhappiness  will  soon  be 
shown  to  be  groundless,  by  having  all  our  rights  con- 
ceded and  all  our  difficulties  peacefully  arranged." 

Robert  kept  up  this  guarded  conversation  with  Mr. 
Bastrop  till  nearly  noon,  when  he  joined  the  ladies, 
whom  he  found  to  be  elegant  and  accomplished. 
Knowing  the  tenor  of  the  morning's  conversation, 
they  delicately  dropped  it,  and  Robert  Warren  was 
entertained  by  the  brilliant  conversation  for  which 
the  educated  southern  ladies  are  remarkable. 

A  little  before  dinner  Gaines  came  down,  looking 
like  a  different  man,  and  showing  great  surprise  when 
informed  of  the  number  of  hours  he  had  been 
asleep. 

After  dinner,  Robert  walked  out  and  found  that 
though  the  sky  was  still  black,  it  had  stopped  raining. 
He  saw  Archy,  who  appeared  as  fresh  as  ever,  and 
who  informed  him  that  the  horses  were  "as  smart 
and  dry  as  if  dey'd  neber  had  water  'bove  dere 
hoofs." 

Returning  to  the  house  he  announced  to  Mr.  Bas- 
trop his  determination  to  start  immediately  on  his 
journey.  The  kind-hearted  gentleman  and  his  ami- 
able family  tried  to  change  Robert's  mind,  but  seeing 
that  he  was  positive,  they  did  everything  to  make  his 
departure  pleasant.  He  found  his  clothing  clean  and 
dried,  and  the  articles  that  had  been  left  in  his  saddle- 
bags washed  and  nicely  folded. 

*'My  friend,  Mr.  Gaines,"  said  Robert,  addressing 
the  kind  host,  "  lost  his  horse,  as  I  informed  you  last 
10 


110  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

evening.  We  desire  to  purchase  another.  Can  you 
tell  me,  INIr.  Bastrop,  where  we  can  be  accommo- 
dated ?" 

"Buy  a  horse!"  said  Mr.  Bastrop  in  surprise. 
•'Bob  Warren's  son  buy  a  horse  from  me  !  I  have  a 
great  notion  to  hold  on  to  you  till  your  recent  cold 
chill  has  wholly  left  your  heart." 

Robert  laughed  as  he  said :  "But,  Mr.  Bastrop,  I 
did  not  propose  to  buy  one  from  you.  I  will  get  one 
at  some  neighbor's  if  you  will  direct  me." 

It  was  now  Mr.  Bastrop's  turn  to  laugh.  "Why, 
my  nearest  neighbor  lives  four  miles  from  here,  and 
he  has  plenty  of  mules,  but  no  horses,  to  sell."  Then, 
changing  his  tone,  Mr.  Bastrop  continued:  "Serious- 
ly, Mr.  Warren,  there  are  a  dozen  horses  in  my  stables. 
Let  your  friend  take  his  choice.  And  if  you  have 
any  compunctions  about  the  gift,  let  me  say,  that 
were  it  not  for  the  aid  and  advice  of  your  father,  I 
would  not  be  living  to-day,  and,  if  living,  I  would  not 
be  worth  a  cent." 

Mr.  Bastrop  spoke  with  emotion,  and  Robert  ac- 
cepted his  generous  offer. 

By  three  o'clock  they  bade  farewell  to  the  noble 
planter  and  his  family,  and  accompanied  by  a  guide 
whom  Mr.  Bastrop  sent  to  show  them  the  right  road, 
they  were  again  on  their  journey  north.  As  they 
rode  along  Robert  called  to  mind  the  many  good  and 
noble  men  who  were  rushing  into  the  vortex  of  seces- 
sion, as  sheep  follow  their  leader. 


CHAPTER  XII, 


KENTUCKY. 

There  was  a  time,  not  long  distant,  when  the  name 
"Kentuckian"  was  a  synonym  for  bravery,  patriot- 
ism, and  hospitality,  and  no  star  shone  brighter  in  the 
galaxy  of  States'  than  that  representing  Kentucky. 
Blessed  above  every  section  of  the  Union  in  her  loca- 
tion and  natm-al  advantages,  her  climate  tempered 
the  colder  air  of  the  north  with  the  warm  winds  from 
the  south,  to  produce  an  atmosphere  healthy  and  in- 
vigorating. Her  valleys  were  deep  and  rich,  and  on 
her  thousand  hills  the  finest  herds  in  the  country 
grazed.  The  productions  of  her  soil  were  always  in 
demand,  and  poverty  among  her  sons  bespoke  in  its 
exception  improvidence.  School  houses  and  churches 
were  scattered  in  nearly  every  section  of  the  State, 
and  the  people  were  famed  for  their  honor  and  intelli- 
gence. True,  slavery  existed  there,  but  in  a  form  so 
mild  ad  to  give  all  the  advantages  of  the  institution 
to  the  negro,  without  whom  the  masters  would  have 
been  better  off.  But  in  Kentucky,  as  in  other  slave 
States,  the  doctrme  of  State  sovereignty  had  taken  a 
fast  hold  on  the  younger  portion  of  the  community, 
who  knew  nothing  of  the  patriotism  of  Clay  or  the 
inflexibility  of  Jackson;  and  to  uphold  this  idea, 
thousands  of  Kentucky's  best  men  poured  out  theii 


112  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

blood  against  the  flag  their  fathers  so  bravely  defend- 
ed at  New  Orleans.  Still,  she  was  not  ardent  in  her 
new  love,  nor  wholly  forgetful  of  the  old,  for  the  his- 
tory of  western  victories  is  the  record  of  Kentucky 
daring.  To  every  sword  that  she  sent  to  the  South, 
she  gave  a  saber  and  two  muskets  to  the  Union. 

When  it  was  seen  that  war  was  inevitable,  as  a 
State  Kentucky  occupied  no  enviable  position.  Di- 
vided in  her  sentiments  and  her  views  of  right,  she 
wavered,  and  while  she  refused  aid  to  the  Union,  she 
tried  to  make  amends  by  warning  the  confederate  sol- 
diers from  her  border.  Had  she  acted  as  South 
Carolina  or  Massachusetts  did,  her  veriest  enemies 
would  turn  with  admiration  and  respect  to  the  State 
which  they  now  jeer  as  the  type  of  vacillation  and 
imbecility.  Poor  Kentucky  !  her  indecision  has  fully 
established  her  claim  to  the  name  of  "the  dark  and 
bloody  ground." 

Yet  she  was  and  is  still  "  the  fairest  land  of  all," 
with  her  undulating  hills,  and  her  green  valleys  and 
noble  rivers,  and  homes  so  indicative  of  culture  and 
wealth. 

Among  those  homes,  set  like  jewels  in  the  emerald 
center  of  the  *' blue-grass  region,"  there  was  none 
happier  or  more  beautiful  than  that  of  Louis  War- 
ren, of  Jessamine,  situated  in  the  most  fertile  part  of 
what  they  call  "the  garden  spot  of  the  world,"  em- 
bowered in  the  primitive  forest  of  locust,  and  walnut, 
and  maple,  with  here  and  there  a  glimpse  of  the  clear 
Kentucky  river,  like  a  mild  eye  peeping  through  the 
openings.  Buffalo  and  deer  grazed  with  nearly  their 
primitive  freedom  in  the  grand  park  surrounding  the 
place.     Hedges  of  Osage  orange  and  the  Cherokee 


-WARREN  OF  KENTUCKY.  113 

rose  sent  up  their  fragrance  with  the  perfume  of 
countless  other  flowers.  How  grand,  yet  cozy,  that 
old  house  looked,  with  its  stately  pillars  in  front,  and 
its  score  of  angles,  nooks,  and  quaint  chimnies,  and 
gables  behind,  with  patches  of  yellow  sunlight  floating 
before  it  on  the  lawTi,  and  masses  of  rich  flowers  bor- 
dering the  well-kept  walks. 

Mr.  "Warren  counted  his  acres  by  thousands  and  his 
servants  by  hundreds.  He  was  blessed  above  most 
men  in  wealth,  and  his  children  were  the  crowning 
glory  of  his  declining  years.  You  might  search  that 
land,  famous  for  its  noble-looking  men,  without  find- 
ing the  physical  superiors  of  Allen  or  Russell  War- 
ren. Both  were  just  past  the  threshold  of  manhood, 
and  in  addition  to  great  prospective  wealth  and  fine 
persons,  they  had  the  advantage  of  an  education  in 
the  foremost  college  of  the  North. 

Mr.  Warren  had  one  daughter,  in  every  respect 
worthy  of  her  father  and  brothers.  She  was  his 
youngest  child,  bright,  beautiful,  and  accomplished ; 
but  having  lost  her  mother  in  early  life,  and  accus- 
tomed to  having  her  own  way,  some  might  think, 
who  did  not  understand  her  warm  heart  and  pure  mo- 
tives, that  she  was  spoiled. 

It  was  the  early  part  of  May,  1861 .  Mr.  Warren  and 
his  family  were  sitting  on  the  gallery  enjoying  the 
beautiful  sunset,  which,  from  their  position,  could  be 
seen  tipping  with  gold  the  blue  hills  in  the  distance. 
The  young  men  were  chatting  together  pleasantly,  and 
smoking  with  the  slow,  languid  puffs  peculiar  to  men 
who  enjoy  the  weed.  Miss  Bell  was  relating  some 
amusing  incident  to  her  father,  for  the  old  gentleman 
clajiped  his  hands,  and  they  laughed  in  chorus,  tiU  th» 
10* 


114  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

mirth  spread  to  the  faces  of  the  brothers,  who  laughed, 
though  they  knew  not  the  cause.  A  servant  rode  up 
the  avenue,  and,  dismounting,  handed  Mr  Warren  the 
mail,  just  brought  in  from  Nicholasville. 

The  papers  from  Cincinnati  and  Louisville  were 
seized  immediately  by  the  three  gentlemen.  They 
glanced  rapidly  over  the  pages,  as  if  looking  for  some 
news  in  which  each  was  particularly  interested.  After 
a  few  moments,  Russell,  the  younger  of  the  brothers, 
rose  quickly  from  his  seat,  and  throwing  up  his  hat 
with  boyish  impetuosity,  shouted  out,  "HuiTah  for 
Southern  rights  !  Why,  see  here,  Allen,  Beauregard 
has  driven  every  Yankee  from  South  Carolina." 

Russell  turned  to  his  brother,  who  never  looked  up 
from  the  paper  on  which  he  was  intent.  His  indiffer- 
ence nettled  Russell,  who  said  pettishly : 

"Allen,  I  wouldn't  be  as  cold  a  toad  as  you  for  the 
world.     Why  don't  you  help  me  cheer?" 

"Because,  Russell,"  said  Allen,  looking  into  his 
brother's  eyes  with  a  pained  expression,  "  I  can  see 
nothing  to  cheer  for." 

"Nothing  to  cheer  for?"  retorted  Russell  with  a 
glow  on  his  cheek.  *'Is  it  nothing  when  our  fellow- 
countrymen  of  South  Carolina  assert  their  rights?" 

*'Yes;  but,  brother,"  said  Allen,  slowly,  "they  as- 
sert their  rights,  as  you  call  it,  by  driving  out  our  fel- 
low-countrymen who  have  done  them  no  wrong." 

"  No  wrong,"  said  Russell,  in  the  sam^  excited  tone. 
"Why,  Allen,  you  astound  me  more  and  more  every 
<iay.  What  has  changed  you?  Has  not  the  North 
wronged  lis  by  placing  abolitionists  in  power,  and 
planning  for  the  ruin  of  every  slaveholder  in  the  South." 

"I  don't  think  so.     Neither  you  nor  I  have  suf- 


THE  CONFLICT  OF  IDEAS.  115 

fered  any  wrong.  Show  me  wherein  Kentucky  or 
South  Carolina  has  been  injured  by  the  people  re- 
cently elected,  and  I  will  cheer  as  heartily  as  you  at 
every  reverse  they  meet  with." 

"Allen,  this  is  simply  nonsense.  If  I  know  a  man 
is  sworn  to  injury,  do  you  think  I  am  going  to  wait 
for  him  to  knock  me  down  before  I  put  myself  on  the 
defensive  ?"  asked  Russell. 

"By  no  means,"  replied  Allen  ;  "but  I  would  not 
knock  the  man  down  and  kick  him  out  on  the  mere 
suspicion  of  his  evil  designs ;  and  that  is  what  South 
Carolina  has  done,  to  contmue  your  illustration." 

"Yes,  and  I  hope  Kentucky  will  come  to  her  senses, 
and  wake  from  her  sleep,  and  follow  the  example  of 
South  Carolina.  I,  for  one,  am  ready  to  fight  the  fa- 
natics of  the  North  the  moment  Kentucky  decides." 

As  Russell  concluded  he  walked  to  the  end  of  the 
gallery,  and,  on  returning,  Allen  addressed  him  with- 
out raising  his  eyes  from  the  paper. 

"  Brother  Russell,  the  day  Kentucky  becomes  so 
blind  as  to  decide  against  the  Union,  I  will  be  one 
of  her  faithful  sons  to  lead  her  back  to  the  fold,  and 
I  say  this  with  the  full  conviction  that  blood  must  be 
shed  to  do  it." 

Russell  drew  a  seat  near  to  his  brother,  and  looked 
at  him  with  amazement,  while  Allen  continued  : 

"  This  appeal  to  the  South  is  simply  the  maturing 
of  a  plan  concocted  by  ambitious  men  before  we  were 
bom,  Russell.  The  North  has  fairly  beaten  us  in 
strength  and  resources  ;  she  has  elected  a  President 
against  our  wish ;  now  let  us  submit,  as  they  have 
done  heretofore,  and  not  make  our  State  a  wedge  to 
divide  the  Union." 


116  WAREEN  OF  TEXAS. 

*'  That  sounds  ver}  well  as  a  piece  of  abstract  coun- 
sel," said  Russell,  assuming  a  critical  air,  "but  T  take 
it  there  are  statesmen  in  Kentucky  whom  you  have 
idolized  hereiofore,  who  know  more  about  the  neces- 
sity for  secession  than  we  do,  and  they  hold  the  same 
views  I  entertain.  You  voted,  last  fall,  for  John  C, 
Breckinridge,  and  I  gave  him,  as  you  know,  the  first 
vote  I  ever  cast." 

Russell  looked  inquiringly  at  his  brother,  and  Allen 
said: 

"Yes,  that  is  very  true.'* 

"  Well,"  continued  Russell,  "  I  heard  him  say,  in 
a  speech  in  Lexington  yesterday,  that  the  time  had 
come  for  Kentucky  to  take  part  with  her  sisters  of 
the  South,  and  he  advised  the  yoimg  men  to  be  train- 
ing, for  war  would  certainly  come.  A  large  number  of 
Jessamine  County  boys  were  over  there,  and  on  our  re- 
turn we  organized  another  company  of  the  State  Guard." 

*'I  am  still  true  to  the  principles  I  held  when  I 
voted  for  Breckinridge,"  said  Allen,  "  and  so  far  as 
he  advocates  the  measures  you  have  mentioned,  he 
is  false  to  himself,  and  unworthy  the  esteem  of  every 
good  man." 

"Brother  Allen,"  said  Bell,  with  pouting  lips, 
"you  are  a  real  tease.  How  can  you  talk  so,  when 
^11  the  young  men  in  the  country  are  for  the  South. 
I  told  Greorge  "Watson,  yesterday,  when  he  talked  as 
you  do,  that  hereafter  he  must  have  some  other  lis- 
tener, for  I  would  not  come  near  him,  and  before  he 
left  he  promised  to  join  tha  State  Guard." 

"Yes,  sister,  your  sex  has  played  the  same  trick 
before  on  better  men,"  said  Allen,  in  the  same  calm 
tone  that  characterized  everything  he  said. 


.      "KENTUCKY  NEUTRALITY."  117 

Mr.  Warren  sat  with  anxious  face  listening  to  tlie 
conversation  of  his  children,  but  taking  no  part 
therein.  When  Allen  had  concluded,  the  old  gentle- 
man rose,  saying : 

"  My  children,  I  would  prefer  to  hear  no  more  of 
this.  Let  us  enter  the  house,  and  find  some  more 
profitable  occupation.  It  pains  me  to  hear  such  talk, 
where  we  have  had  love  and  happiness  heretofore." 

On  entering  the  parlor  the  hot-headed  Kussell 
again  broke  out  with  : 

"  Father,  you  know  the  South  is  right,  and  people 
must  take  sides.  Now  cannot  you  tell  us,  for  Allen's 
benefit,  just  what  you  think  of  the  stand  he  has  taken." 

*'My  boy,"  said  Mr.  Wan-en,  laying  his  hand  on 
Russell's  shoulder,  *'  I  cannot  side  with  either  section. 
I  believe  the  majority  of  the  northern  people  mean 
to  do  right.  They  are  not  as  fanatical  as  we  suppose, 
and  I  cannot  think  that  separation  is  a  remedy  for 
evils,  real  or  imaginary.  On  the  other  hand,  we  must 
accept  things  as  they  are,  not  as  we  would  have 
them.  A  war  is  imminent,  and  by  blood  and  interest 
we  are  allied  to  the  South." 

"  But,  father,  if  this  war  becomes  general,  what 
side  would  you  have  Kentucky  take?"  asked  Allen. 

*'  I  would  have  Kentucky  stand  aloof  till  the  hot 
blood  of  each  section  is  cooler,  and  then  step  in  as  a 
mediator  between  them." 

"  In  such  a  conflict  as  this,  however,  positive  men 
must  take  sides ;  but  one  side  can  be  right,  and 
in  my  opinion  the  whole  country  claims  the  service 
of  the  true  patriot,  in  preference  to  a  section.  I  re- 
gret our  differences,  but  I  am  firmly  decided  to  stand 
by  the  Union." 


118  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

As  Allen  said  this  he  did  not  raise  his  voice,  but 
it  sounded  stronger  and  deeper  than  his  ordinary  tones. 

"Brother  Allen,"  said  Kussell,  "give  me  credit 
for  being  as  honest  in  my  convictions  as  you  are.  I 
am  as  strong  in  my  feelings  for  the  South  as  you  can 
be  for  the  Union,  and  I  am  willing,  if  necessary,  to 
give  my  life  blood  as  a  pledge  of  my  fidelity." 

"  I  know  you  are  honest,  my  Russell,"  said  Allen, 
rising  and  clasping  the  hand  of  his  brother.  ♦*  I  know 
you  are  incapable  of  a  mean  or  dishonorable  act,  yet 
I  must  attribute  what  I  deem  your  eiTors  to  some 
cause  ;  let  me  call  it  thoughtlessness." 

Allen  turned  as  he  spoke  and  left  the  room.  Put- 
ting on  his  hat,  he  walked  do\ra  through  the  locust 
grove,  through  which  glimpses  of  the  moon  could  be 
caught,  and  from  which  came  the  delicious  perfume 
of  the  flowering  trees.  He  walked  with  bis  hands 
behind  him  and  his  eyes  cast  doA\'u.  He  loved  his 
brother  dearly  as  his  own  life.  There  was  only  a  few 
years'  difference  in  their  ages,  and  from  childhood 
they  had  been  companions,  as  playmates,  schoolboys, 
and  college  chums.  Now  he  felt  there  was  an  es- 
trangement, the  first  of  their  lives.  It  arose  from  no 
personal  feeling,  for  Russell  was  still  the  same  noble, 
generous  boy,  loved  by  all  who  knew  him.  Each 
brother  was  the  representative  of  antagonistic  ideas. 
Each  was  positive  debate  was  useless,  and  one  side 
or  the  other  must  yield  through  other  agencies.  As 
Allen  strolled  back  he  thought  over  the  possibility 
of  a  war,  and  he  pictured  himself  and  brother  fighting 
on  opposite  sides,  and  his  heart  gave  a  throb,  and  a 
pain  shot  across  his  forehead.  The  idea  was  horri- 
ble, and  he  tried  to  banish  it  by  increasing  his  speed 


A  GAME  OF  WHIST.  119 

towards  the  house.  On  entering,  Russell  rose,  and, 
placmg  both  arms  around  his  brother's  neck,  said  : 

"  Alley,  old  boy,  we  are  just  gomg  to  settle  all  our 
difficulties.  Bell  and  I  have  decided  to  challenge 
you  and  father  to  a  game  of  whist.  We  will  repre- 
sent the  sunny  South,  and  you  the  othei  side." 

Allen  laughed  and  agreed  to  it,  nor  was  he  sorry 
when,  at  a  late  hour,  the  sunny  South  was  ahead 
three  games. 


CHAPTEE  XIII. 


SPECULATIONS. 

)jx  the  morning  the  all-absorbing  topic  was  again 
intro'luced  by  Bell's  remarking,  at  the  breakfast 
table : 

"  Since  the  secession  of  Texas,  I  have  been  think- 
ing a  great  deal  about  uncle  Robert's  family.  If 
there  is  to  be  a  war,  cousin  Robert  may  come  here  to 
fight." 

"Yes,  sister,"  said  Russell,  "if  your  old  school- 
mate, cousin  Mary,  knew  how  Kentucky  was  acting, 
I  am  sure  she  would  regret  having  relatives  here." 

"You  take  it  for  granted,  then,  that  uncle  Robert's 
family  is  opposed  to  the  Union.  I  have  more  respect 
for  them  than  to  believe  it,"  interposed  Allen  quietly. 

"That  idea  about  respect,  Allen,  is  a  matter  of 
opinion,"  said  Russell.  "I  would  be  willing  to  wager 
my  horse  that  at  this  time  cousin  Robert  is  raising 
a  squadron  of  Texas  rangers  to  avenge  the  -wrongs  of 
his  State." 

"Yes,  Texas  has  been  fearfully  wronged  by  Indians 
and  cut-throat  desperadoes,  in  addition  to  her  unprin- 
cipled politicians.  I  hope  Robert  retains  his  old  hate 
{'^r  the  class  last  named." 

Allen  said  this  with  a  cold  smile,  that  had  the  effect 


THE  WAR  OF  WORDS.  121 

<)f  rousing  Russell,  who  poured  out  a  torrent  of  gen- 
eral invective  against  Yankees,  Puritans,  witch-burners, 
abolitionists,  fanatics,  negro-stealers,  and  northern 
mud-sills. 

"Brother  Russell,"  said  Allen, after  his  brother  had 
exhausted  himself,  "I  have  a  distinct  recollection  of 
having  saved  you,  while  at  school,  from  a  flogging  at 
the  hands  of  one  of  those  Yankees,  for  language  less 
strong  and  more  thoughtful  than  that  just  uttered. 
However,  we  were  talking  about  Texas.  You  may- 
remember  that  when  Texas  was  annexed,  we  took  her 
with  all  her  debts,  and  desperadoes,  and  New  England 
helped  to  pay  those  debts,  that  the  South  might  have 
more  slave  territory.  Texas  wronged !  "Why,  as  a 
State,  she  is  the  meanest  and  basest  of  ingrates,  and 
her  secession  and  the  subsequent  murders  of  good 
men,  are  in  keeping  with  the  character  of  her  lead- 
ers." 

*'I  suppose,  brother  Allen,"  said  Bell,  "you  class 
uncle  Robert's  family  with  the  desperadoes  and  bad 
people  of  Texas." 

"No,  Bell,  I  could  not  be  just  and  suppose  such  a 
thing;  and  even  if  they  did  vote  for  secession,  I 
would  except  them  from  the  catalogue,  knowing  how 
good  they  are :  just,  my  sister,  as  I  except  you  and 
Russell  from  the  ambitious  demagogues  and  passion- 
ate people  of  the  South,  with  whom  you  sympathise." 
There  was  a  kindly  tone  in  Allen's  voice  as  he  spoke, 
and  as  he  continued  it  became  lower  and  softer:  "1 
have  not  seen  cousin  Robert  for  years,  but  as  a  boy  he 
bade  fair  to  be  a  noble  man,  like  his  father.  Whether 
for  or  against  the  Union,  I  must  respect  him,  for  his 
motives,  I  am  sure,  are  right." 
11 


IM  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Allen  might  have  continued  in  this  strain,  had  not 
his  attention  been  attracted  by  a  tramping  of  horses 
outside,  followed  by  the  ringing  of  the  door-bell. 
Soon  after,  a  servant  announced  two  gentlemen  in  the 
hall. 

"  What  do  they  look  like,  Patsy?"  asked  Bell,  with 
a  woman's  curiosity,  as  she  glanced  at  the  mirror  above 
the  mantel-piece. 

* '  Why,  Miss,  dey's  kinder  nice,  an*  dey  look  right 
smart  funny ;  an'  dey' s  got  de  orfullest  beards  an' 
hats,  0  Lor',"  and  Patsy  tried  to  describe  the  sombre- 
ros by  drawing  an  imaginary  circle  above  her  head 
with  both  hands  extended. 

Bell  laughed  at  the  queer  description,  and,  as  she 
glanced  again  at  the  mirror,  directed  the  servant  to 
show  the  gentlemen  into  the  parlor. 

Patsy  returned  in  a  few  seconds,  and,  in  a  voice  in- 
dicative of  amazement,  said : 

"  0,  sakes.  Miss  Bell,  de  gentleman  says  he's  yer 
cousin,  an'  he  com'd  from  Texas." 

Instantly  Mr.  Warren  and  his  family  rose  from  the 
table  and  went  to  the  parlor,  and  Robert  Warren  of 
Texas  and  his  friend  Graines  received  that  warm 
greeting  that  a  Kentucky  gentleman  can  give  when 
his  heart  is  in  sympathy  with  his  words.  After  the 
first  words  of  hearty  welcome,  the  thoughtful  Allen 
went  to  the  window,  and,  looking  out  for  an  instant, 
said  : 

"I  see  you  have  horses — ^but  I  might  have  known 
that ;  only  imagine  a  Texan  without  a  horse  !'* 

Going  to  the  door  he  called  to  a  black  man  who 
was  working  in  one  of  the  flower-beds,  "  Uncle  Toby, 
take  the  horses  to  the  stable,  rub  them  down  well  after 


COFFEE  A^D  COMPLIMENTS.  123 

you  water  them,  and  then  see  that  they  are  well  fed. 
And,  on  your  way,  tell  Aunt  Pheney  to  give  the  boy 
a  good  warm  breakfast.     Do  you  hear?" 

"  All  right,  Mauss  Al.  I'll  see  dat  de  hosses  an' 
de  boy's  keered  fur,"  said  Uncle  Toby,  as  he  led  the 
horses  to  the  stable,  followed  by  Archy. 

After  some  minutes  spent  in  inquiring  about  their 
mutual  families.  Bell  called  to  mind  the  fact  that  Rob- 
ert and  his  friend  were  just  in  time  for  breakfast,  and 
though  they  had  eaten  before,  they  could  not  resist 
the  temptation  to  join  the  family. 

While  at  breakfast  Robert  apologized  for  his  "  out- 
landish costume,"  as  he  was  pleased  to  call  his  Texan 
dress.  He  assured  his  pretty  cousin  that  he  had 
clothing  much  more  presentable,  which  he  would  don 
after  breakfast. 

Bell  laughed  as  she  assured  cousin  Robert  that  he 
was  welcome,  no  matter  what  his  appearance  might 
be,  adding  :  "  1  think  your  present  dress  romantic  and 
picturesque.  It  might  not  look  so  well,  however,  on 
a  difterent  looking  man." 

Robert  gracefully  acknowledged  the  compliment  of 
his  cousin,  and  after  breakfast  he  and  G-aines  left  to 
dress,  he  promising  to  return  soon  and  show  his  cousin 
*'a  couple  of  Texan  savages  attired  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  timid  Yankees." 

After  the  visitors  had  withdrawn,  Russell,  who  felt 
rather  sore  over  the  previous  conversation,  began  : 

''  Vou  see,  brother  Allen,  from  the  tone  of  cousin 
Robert's  conversation,  he  is  opposed  to  the  Yankees 
{Shouldn't  wonder  if  he  came  on  here  to  raise  a  company 
of  Keutuckians.  Wouldn't  he  make  a  dashing  soldier  J 
Clear  the  track,  Yankees,"  and  Russell  crowed  ex- 
ultingly. 


124  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

'^I  beg,  Eussell,"  said  Mr.  Warren,  "that  you  do 
not  draw  Robert  out  on  that  question.  No  matter 
what  his  views  may  be,  it  would  be  unpleasant  for 
him,  as  we  are  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  radical  and 
opposite." 

Allen  smiled  as  he  said :  "Father,  we  are  not  ex- 
actly opposite.  You  split  the  difference  between 
Kussell  and  myself,  by  being  thoroughly  conserva- 
tive." 

Bell  walked  up  behind  her  father's  chair,  and  draw- 
ing back  his  head  she  kissed  his  forehead,  saying,  as 
she  toyed  with  his  grey  hair:  "I  think  my  dear,  kind 
father  is — let  me  see — what  do  you  call  it,  Rus- 
sell?" Russell  suggested  "on  the  fence,"  and  Bell 
repeated,  "Yes,  father,  you  are  on  the  fence — on  my 
side  of  it,  however." 

Mr.  Warren  intended  to  laugh,  from  the  twitchings 
of  his  face,  but  gradually  it  grew  more  serious,  and 
he  dropped  his  head  on  his  breast,  as  if  the  remarks 
of  his  children  had  led  him  to  more  serious  reflec- 
tion. 

Robert  and  Gaines  soon  returned,  looking  like  dif- 
ferent men  in  their  clean,  civilized  attire. 

"  Cousin  Robert,"  said  Russell,  shortly  after  Robert 
came  down,  "I  am  going  to  Nicholasville  to  attend 
a  drill  of  a  new  State  Guard  company.  If  you  aro 
not  too  tired  to  go  with  me,  I  can  provide  you  with  a 
horse,  such  as  you  never  saw  on  the  prairies." 

"I  thank  you  very  much,  and  should  be  pleased  tc 
gOy  were  I  not  so  tired,"  said  Robert.  "I  know  some- 
thing  about  horses,  however,  and  would  like  to  see 
this  wonderful  animal  of  yours." 

They  walked  out,  and  Russell  pointed  out  his  ele- 


TALKING  *'HOSS."  125 

gant  four-year-old  bay,  purchased  when  a  colt  from 
the  famous  stock-raiser,  "Lord"  Alexander.  Robert 
admired  the  beautiful  creature,  pointed  out  the  fine 
points  with  his  finger,  and  then  said : 

"You  have  a  fine  horse,  cousin  Russell,  but  if  you 
wish  to  see  one  that  can  beat  him  one  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  in  a  mile,  go  to  the  stable  and  take  a  look 
at  one  of  the  horses  I  brought  from  the  prairies." 

You  may  tell  a  Kentuckian  you  are  stronger,  of 
better  family,  and  of  superior  abilities  to  him,  and  ho 
may  pass  your  remarks  unheeded ;  but  tell  him  you 
have  a  horse  that  can  leave  his  behind,  and  suddenly  he 
flashes  up,  and  is  willing  to  wager  his  all  that  you  are 
in  error.     Russell  tried  to  laugh  as  he  said : 

"All  you  say  about  your  horse  is  possible,  cousin 
Robert ;  but  wait  till  you  and  your  horse  are  rested, 
and  we  will  have  a  rare  ride.  Now,  I  must  leave  you 
to  my  good  Quaker  brother.     I'm  off  for  the  drill." 

Russell  finished  his  last  words  while  vaulting  into 
the  saddle,  then  rode  some  distance  at  a  walk.  He 
looked  back,  and  seeing  that  his  cousin  was  watching 
him,  he  raised  his  hat,  and  giving  free  rein  to  his 
beautiful  horse,  like  an  arrow  he  sped  down  the  long 
vista,  arched  by  the  flowering  locusts. 

It  was  indeed  a  day  of  rest  to  Robert.  He  lounged, 
smoked,  and  tried  to  read,  but  thoughts  of  the  dear 
one  at  home  and  the  memories  of  the  dangers  he  had 
encountered  to  reach  Kentucky,  haunted  him. 

In  the  afternoon  Bell  sought  him  out,  and  proposed 
a  stroll  through  the  grounds,  to  which  he  willingly 
agreed.  They  sauntered  out  through  the  gardens. 
Bell  entertaining  her  cousin  by  pointing  out  her 
favorite  flowers,  and  drawing  him  out  on  the  flora  of 
11* 


126  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Texas,  in  which  he  was  perfectly  at  home,  ^'he 
spoke  about  the  current  literature,  and  was  astonished 
at  her  cousin's  f\\miliarity  with  her  most  read  authors. 
She  prattled  about  a  hundred  things,  trivial  they 
would  seem  if  written ;  yet  a  lovely  woman  can 
warble  them  out  and  be  irresistible.  Tired  at  length, 
she  took  off  her  hat,  and  shaking  loose  her  wealth  of 
jetty  cm'ls,  she  led  her  cousin  to  a  seat,  exclaiming : 

"  Oh,  cousin  Robert,  you  look  so  brave  and  strong, 
that  it  makes  me  particularly  happy  to  see  you  at  this 
time." 

"Why,  my  little  cousin,  I  had  no  idea  that  the  fact 
of  my  being  strong  would  increase  your  pleasure  at 
seeing  me.  If  I  were  small  and  weak,  would  you  not 
esteem  me  as  highly?'"  asked  Robert. 

"Yes,  I  would  esteem  you,  no  matter  what  you 
looked  like,  cousin  Robert,"  said  Bell,  "but  lam 
sure  I  would  not  be  so  happy  to  see  you  just  at  this 
time,  if  you  were  as  small  as  I  am." 

"  If  I  were  as  sweet  looking  in  addition,  I  think 
you  would,  cousin  Bell,"  said  Robert.  "  Now,  I  am 
nervous  witli  anxiety  to  know  why  you  admii'e  my  size 
and  strength." 

"Because,  cousin  Robert,"  said  Bell,  her  face  grow- 
ing serious,  "  I  want  strong  men  to  fight.  O,  we  are 
going  to  have  such  an  awful  war,  and  fearful  times ! 
Russell  has  joined  the  State  Guard,  and  nearly  all  the 
young  men  are  going  to.  Brother  Allen  is  a  regular 
Yankee.  I'm  sorry,  for  I  love  him  very  much.  He 
got  angry  last  night.  I  could  see  it  in  his  eyes.  And 
he  said,  if  Kentucky  seceded,  he  would  fight  her. 
Don't  you  think  it  was  wicked  to  speak  so  ?  Say  yes, 
please/* 


"AT  YOUR  aDMMO]SiS."  127 

8he  added  the  last  three  words  after  waiting  some 
time  for  an  answer.  But  Robert,  with  his  eyes  cast 
on  the  gi-ound,  forgot  his  cousin  in  the  whirUng 
thoughts  which  rushed  through  his  brain. 

Bell  looked  inquiringly  into  his  face,  and  then,  in  a 
soft  sweet  voice,  asked,  "Are  you  ill,  cousin  Robert? 
Tou  must  be.     Come,  let  us  return  to  the  house." 

*•  Yes,  cousin,  I  am  sick,"  and  Robert  spoke  with  an 
emphasis  that  startled  her. 

He  rose  and  walked  rapidly  back,  almost  forgetting 
his  fair  companion.  On  reaching  the  house  he  di- 
rected a  servant  to  tell  Allen  he  wished  to  see  him  at 
once. 

With  a  woman's  instinct,  Bell  saw  the  true  state  of 
afiairs,  and  agitated  by  anger  and  sorrow,  she  went  to 
her  room,  and  eased  her  heart  in  the  great  solace 
of  her  sex — tears. 

in  a  few  minutes  Allen  entered  the  room  where 
Robert  sat  gazing  earnestly  out  of  the  window,  and 
said :  "  My  stalwart  cousin,  at  your  summons ;  your 
servaut  has  come  to  receive  his  orders."  Allen  spoke 
ill  a  playful  way,  but  his  manner  changed  when  his 
eyes  met  those  of  Robert,  with  their  strong,  stem  ex- 
piessioa. 

''  Let  us  take  a  walk,  Allen,"  said  Robert.  "  There  is 
a  subject  ou  which  Lam  very  anxious  to  speak  with  you." 

Oalliug  Oaiues,  who  now,  as  heretofore,  was  using 
his  spare  moments  iu  writing  to  his  wife  letters  which 
ht;  felt  very  certain  would  never  reach  her,  they  walked 
to  a  rustic  aibor  some  distauce  from  the  house,  and 
aflorbei.tg  seated.  Robert  related  to  Allen  the  con- 
versation ho  had  just  had  with  his  cousin  l^ell  and 
then  he  asked : 


128  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"  Are  you  truly  in  favor  of  the  Union,  cousin  Allen  ? 

Allen  replied  :  "  Without  at  all  knowing  how  yoii 
stand  on  that  question,  I  will  answer  your  inquiry  with 
the  candor  with  which  it  was  asked.  Yes,  I  am  in 
favor  of  the  Union,  and  so  much  so  as  to  lay  down  my 
life,  if  necessary,  for  it." 

"Give  me  your  hand  on  that,  Mr.  Warren,"  said 
Gaines,  rising  and  extending  his  hand  to  Allen.  The 
hands  were  clasped,  and  Allen  knew  that  his  cousin 
was  a  Union  man. 

Robert  then  related  to  Allen  his  reasons  for  visiting 
Kentucky.  He  spoke  of  the  voting  in  Brazoria,  the 
tearing  down  of  the  flag,  the  assault  of  Townsend,  and 
the  subsequent  flight  of  himself  and  companions.  He 
showed  up  the  gigantic  fraud  by  which  Texas  was 
rushed  out  of  the  Union,  and  the  wholesale  murder  oi 
Union  men  which  followed.  He  touched  but  lightly 
on  the  perils  of  his  flight,  the  Caddo  lakes,  and  the 
wild  mobs  of  Arkansas  and  Tennessee. 

*'I  rode  the  whole  of  the  distance,"  he  said,  "and 
'mid  the  hardships  incident  to  such  a  flight  my  heart 
was  buoyed  up  wdth  the  strong  hope  that  in  Kentucky 
I  would  find  patriots  arming  for  the  whole  country, 
and  the  fires  of  patriotism  burning  brightly.  Instead 
of  this,  I  see,  with  sorrow,  Kentucky  far  beneath 
South  Carolina  in  consistency.  She  stands  tottering, 
undecided  which  way  to  go,  as  if  there  could  be  two 
right  sides  to  any  question." 

"I  agree  w^ith  you  in  pvery  particular,  cousin  Rob- 
ert," said  Allen.  "I  have  my  fears,  however,  that 
General  Buckner,  who  commands  the  State  Guard,  is 
now  working  to  hand  over  his  men,  and  with  them  the 
State,  to  the  rebels." 


A  DETERMINED  TRIO.  129 

"Allen,  I  have  traveled  over  two  thousand  miles  to 
reach  Kentucky.  I  came  here  to  act.  The  Govern- 
ment has  called  for  troops,  and  your  miserable  gover- 
nor, Magoffin,  refuses  to  respond.  I  will  not  remain 
here  while  the  country  needs  my  services.  Gaines 
and  myself  will  start  inside  the  week  for  some  State 
that  is  raising  Union  troops,  even  if  it  takes  us  to 
Massachusetts."  Robert's  face  assumed  the  expres- 
sion that  came  over  it  when  Townsend  accosted  him 
at  the  polls  as  he  stepped  up  to  vote. 

*'  Kentucky  cannot  remain  long  undecided,  Robert," 
said  Allen.  "She  must  take  sides,  and,  despite  the 
number  of  secessionists  in  our  midst,  I  am  confident 
the  majority  of  our  people  are  in  favor  of  the  Union. 
In  the  streets  of  Lexington  you  will  see  hundreds  oi 
men  and  women  openly  wearing  secession  cockades, 
but  I  am  glad  to  say  they  are  not  our  thinking  people. 
My  advice  would  be  to  you,  stay  here  till  the  Govern- 
ment adopts  some  positive  course  of  action,  and  then 
I  promise  that  you  go  not  alone  to  her  aid.  What  say 
you?" 

"  I  am  willing  to  be  guided  by  you  in  this,  and  here 
let  me  express  my  pleasure  at  seeing  you  so  decided,'* 
said  Robert. 

"Whatever  course  you  choose  to  pursue,  gentlemen, 
count  me  in  to  the  death,"  said  Gaines  ;  "  though  I 
fear  our  efforts  to  maintain  the  Union  will  be  unavail- 
ing." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


THE    BARBECUE. 

A  few  days  after  the  arrival  of  our  friends  at  Mr. 
Warren's,  Gaines  was  taken  ill  with  a  brain  fever,  the 
result  of  hardship  and  anxiety.  During  the  delirium, 
which  lasted  several  days,  he  raved  widly  about  the 
trials  through  which  he  had  passed,  and  all  of  Mr.  War- 
ren's family  became  familiar  with  his  past  troubles. 
Everything  that  faithful  attendants  and  skillful  physi- 
cians could  do  was  done  to  restore  him,  and  after  nine 
days  the  fever  passed  off,  leaving  him  feeble  and 
emaciated. 

In  the  meantime  Allen  and  Robert  had  been  busy 
in  the  neighborhood,  rousing  the  latent  Union  element* 
and  organizing  a  company  secretly  pledged  to  the 
Union,  though  nominally  belonging  to  the  State 
Guard. 

In  the  latter  part  of  May  it  was  decided  by  the 
people  of  Jessamine  and  Fayette  counties  to  give  a 
barbecue  to  the  military  organizations  of  both  places* 
The  place  selected  w^as  on  the  banks  of  the  beautiful 
Kentucky  River,  a  few  miles  above  the  Shaker  Ferry. 
There  was  an  ample  space  of  pasture-land  for  the 
movements  of  larger  bodies  of  troops  than  could  have 
been  assembled  by  both  counties,  and  around  the 
fields  on  the  hills  that  swept  down  to  the  river,  were 
the  grand  woods  so  peculiar  to  this  portion  of  the 


A  STATE  GUARD  MUSTER.  131 

State,  and  which  afforded  fine  points  from  which  to 
view  the  parade. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  day  set  apart  for  the 
barbecue,  scores  of  carriages  could  be  seen  on  the 
way  to  the  grounds,  and  bands  of  horsemen  poured 
into  the  woods  from  every  direction.  The  bridles  of 
the  horsemen  were  decorated  with  bunches  of  rib- 
bons, the  colors  of  which  denoted  the  sympathies  of 
the  rider.  Those  in  favor  of  the  Union  wore  red, 
white,  and  blue;  those  who  advocated  secession 
chose  red,  white,  and  red,  and,  from  the  number  of 
the  latter  streamers,  the  majority  of  the  horsemen  were 
certainly  in  favor  of  the  South.  Several  companies 
from  Lexington  came  down  on  a  special  train,  and 
marched  across  from  Nicholasville,  carrying  their 
colors  covered. 

In  the  finely-shaded  grove  where  the  feast,  or  bar- 
becue, was  to  take  place,  hundreds  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful girls  in  Kentucky  strolled  around,  watching  the 
new  arrivals,  waving  their  handkerchiefs  to  friends, 
and  showing  decided  enthusiasm  w^henever  a  company 
advanced  which  they  knew  to  be  in  favor  of  secession. 
Many  of  them  wore  small  southern  flags  pinned  to 
their  breasts,  and  there  were  not  wanting  those  who 
dared  in  the  same  way  to  carry  diminutive  flags  rep- 
resenting the  whole  Union.  The  large  assembly  was 
not  composed  wholly  of  young  people.  There  were 
scores  of  fine,  hale-looking,  elderly  men  and  matronly 
women  present,  evidently  as  much  interested  in  vv^hat 
was  going  on  as  were  the  younger  persons,  and  as 
much  divided  in  their  feelings  toward  the  Union. 

By  eleven  o'clock  the  woods  were  crowded  with 
citizens  and  citizen-soldiers,  and  rival  bands  alter- 


132  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

nated  with  *' Dixie"  and  the  "Star-spangled  Ban- 
ner." The  morning  was  spent  in  listening  to  speeches 
which  were  either  weakly  conservative  or  extremely 
southern  in  the  sentiments  advanced.  The  latter 
speakers  were  most  popular,  and  their  most  radical 
ideas  were  most  loudly  cheered.  During  this  time 
the  dinner  was  being  barbecued,  and  as  the  ox,  and 
sheep,  and  scores  of  poultry  wasted  before  the  huge 
fires,  the  black  cooks  looked  as  if  they  were  preparing 
a  meal  for  the  inhabitants  of  Brobdignag.  Long  ta- 
bles, supplied  with  linen,  dishes,  and  cutlery  by  the 
neighboring  farmers,  or  brought  from  a  greater  dis- 
tance, radiated  in  a  half  circle  from  the  fires.  Huge 
kettles  of  coffee,  boiled  on  smaller  fires,  and  piles  of 
cold  meats,  pastry,  and  preserves  were  stored  in  the 
branch-covered  larder.  That  the  dinner  was  enjoyed, 
the  rapid  disappearance  of  the  good  things  showed, 
but  it  was  equally  observable  in  the  wit  and  repartee 
all  around,  and  the  constant  chorus  of  laughter  that 
came  from  every  table.  It  was  a  good  place  to  see 
the  gallantry  of  the  young  Kentuckians,  and  to  have 
displayed  to  advantage  the  beauty  of  Kentucky's 
daughters. 

After  dinner  was  over  an  order  was  read  announcing 
that  in  half  an  hour  the  assembly  would  sound,  and 
the  members  of  the  State  Guard  would  be  required 
to  fall  in  promptly  with  their  different  commands.  It 
was  the  most  exciting  half  hour  so  far.  Fair  iiands 
were  not  wanting  to  adjust  equipments  according  to 
the  feminine  ideas  of  beauty,  and  musket  muzzles 
were  adorned  with  little  red  bouquets,  nor  was  it 
deemed  a  breach  of  good  discipline  to  carry  them  so 
in  the  line. 


JOHN  MORGAN.  133 

When  the  bugle  sounded,  and  the  infantry  and 
mounted  men  moved  into  the  field,  each  company 
was  cheered  by  its  friends,  and  the  men  walked  more 
erect  for  the  recognition.  After  the  mounted  men 
had  formed,  the  infantry,  at  a  double-quick,  took  a 
position  on  their  left.  The  first  company  in  line  was 
headed  by  a  man  noticeable  among  the  many.  He 
was  about  thirty-five  years  of  age,  over  six  feet  in 
height,  finely-proportioned,  and  straight  as  an  Indian. 
His  hair  was  a  very  light  brown,  close  cut,  and  his 
firm  mouth  was  covered  with  a  large,  light-colored 
moustache.  His  face  was  long  and  muscular-looking — 
what  would  be  called  a  Scotch  face — and  his  greyish- 
blue  eyes  had  a  sharp,  cold,  and  cunning  expression. 
As  he  marched  with  drawn  sword  at  a  double-quick,  in 
advance  of  his  company,  cheer  after  cheer  went  up 
from  citizens  and  soldiers  for  ' '  John  Morgan  and  the 
Lexington  Rifles." 

It  was  decided  by  the  officers,  afler  the  review,  to 
have  a  sham  battle,  for  the  amusement  of  the  specta- 
tors and  the  particular  delight  of  the  fiery  soldiers 
themselves.  The  infantry  marched  with  admirable 
deliberation  to  a  point  to  the  left  and  at  right  angles 
with  the  spectators.  The  cavalry  took  a  position  par- 
allel and  to  the  right  of  the  anxious  assemblage,  and 
then,  with  praiseworthy  coolness,  sat  on  their  horses 
while  the  opposing  infantry  loaded  their  pieces  with 
blank  cartridges.  At  a  signal,  a  number  of  horsemen 
dismounted,  and  after  disentangling  themselves  from 
their  sabers,  they  boldly  advanced  to  skirmish.  The 
infantry  did  the  same,  and  the  watching  people  held 
their  breath.  Perhaps  there  were  no  better  riflemen 
in  the  world  than  that  collection  of  Kentuckians  rep- 


134  WARREN   OF  TEXAS. 

resented.  Any  of  them  could  have  chipped  a  squir- 
re)  off-baDd  at  a  hundred  yards  ;  but  to  shoot  off-hand 
under  the  circumstances  was  not  soldierly,  so  the 
skinTji-^her?  dropped  gi-acefully  on  one  knee,  took  a 
deliberate  aim  at  their  opponents,  no  doubt,  and  fired. 
They  continued  to  stain  their  pants  on  the  grass  in 
this  way  for  some  time,  when  each  party  appeared  to 
be  driven  back,  and  the  cavalry  remounted  and  the 
infantry  dropped  into  their  places  in  the  ranks.  It 
was  a  novel  idea  but  worthy  of  a  great  leader ;  the 
officer  in  command  of  the  infantry  ordered  a  charge 
on  the  cavalry,  and  with  furious  yells  they  rushed 
down  on  the  astounded  horse.  The  cavalrymen  could 
have  stood  the  firing  and  yelling,  but  the  horses  be- 
came utterly  disgusted,  and  tuniing  tail  they  galloped 
wildly  in  every  direction  through  the  field.  Several 
prisoners  were  taken,  and  the  infantry  were  in  high 
glee,  and  good-naturedly  offered  to  receive  a  charge 
from  the  cavalry.  The  old  positions  were  again  taken, 
the  charge  was  sounded,  and  four  hundred  magnifi- 
cent horsemen  swept  across  the  field.  Even  in  sport 
a  cavalry  charge  is  grand.  The  horsemen  yelled, 
fired  their  pistols,  and  flashed  their  sabers.  The  in- 
fantry reserved  their  fire  and  their  equally  injurious 
yells  till  the  horses  came  close  up,  and  then  they 
poured  in  both,  and  the  horses  wheeled  and  ran  back, 
testing  in  a  severe  way  the  skill  of  their  riders.  This 
ended  the  battle. 

So  far  the  only  flags  carried  by  the  Guards  were 
the  State  colors  and  guidons.  Afler  a  short  rest 
from  the  fatigues  of  "the  battle"  the  troops  formed 
to  march  in  review,  and  other  flags  were  unfurled, 
and  wild  cheers  broke   from   the   multitude   as  the 


UNION  VERSUS  SECESSION.  135 

crimson  folds  of  the  "  stars  and  bars  "  rose  over  each 
company  along  the  line.  But  the  cheers  died  out  as 
a  squadron  of  cavalry  from  the  further  end  of  the 
field  advanced,  bearing  in  its  center  the  emblem  of 
Union,  the  old  Stars  and  Stripes.  The  cheers  were 
not  loud  that  greeted  it,  but  more  than  one  eye  moist- 
ened at  its  sight,  and  more  than  one  heart  blessed 
brave  Allen  Warren  and  his  "brown-horse"  squadron. 
The  surprise  of  the  multitude  and  the  pleasure  of  the 
Union  men  increased  when,  after  advancing  across 
the  field,  Warren's  company  opened  and  disclosed  to 
the  rear  the  red  and  blue  uniforms  of  the  chasseurs. 
This  company  carried  the  Union  flag,  and  was  com- 
manded by  the  gallant  Saunders  Bruce,  a  brother-in- 
law  of  John  Morgan. 

After  this  strangest  of  all  reviews,  it  was  decided, 
as  a  fitting  close  to  the  festivities  and  exercises  of  the 
day,  to  have  a  peaceable  contest  of  the  merits  of  the 
Union  and  secession  cause.  Two  squadrons  of  cav- 
alry were  to  form  at  the  further  end  of  the  field,  one 
carrymg  the  southern  colors,  the  other  those  of  the 
Union.  The  color-bearers  were  to  have  fifty  yards 
the  start,  and  at  a  signal  all  were  to  gallop  across  the 
field,  and  the  flag  first  in  was  to  be  crowned  with  g 
garland,  the  southern  flag  by  a  Union  girl,  the  Union 
flag  by  one  of  opposite  sympathies.  The  horsemen 
rode  back  and  formed  in  line.  The  colors  were  ad- 
vanced ;  Captain  Morgan  by  general  desire  carrying 
the  confederate  flag,  and  mounted  on  the  best  horse 
they  could  find  where  all  the  horses  were  good.  Allen 
Warren  advanced  abreast  of  Morgan,  from  his  own 
squadron,  carrying  his  own  flag.  A  moment  or  two  of 
smxiety,  and  the  bugle  soimded  the  ''advance,"  and 


136  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

both  squadrons,  with  their  flags,  sped  like  a  whirlwind 
over  the  field.  The  color-bearers  seemed  fairly  to 
fly,  and  their  followers  came  thundering  behind. 
They  were  within  three  hundred  yards  of  the  goal, 
and  Allen  was  three  lengths  ahead.  He  felt  certain, 
as  did  his  men,  and  already  they  began  to  cheer  him. 
But  just  as  he  seemed  most  secure,  his  horse  stumbled, 
fell  on  his  knees,  and  the  flag  dropped  from  Allen's 
grasp.  A  loud  cheer  rang  out  from  the  opposite  line. 
Morgan  was  ahead.  Quick  as  a  flash,  a  black  horse 
leaped  out  of  Warren's  squadron,  and  without  a  mo- 
ment's check  the  rider  swooped  do>\Ti,  seized  the  flag, 
and  tossing  it  over  his  head  with  a  cheer  that  electri- 
fied all  who  heard  it,  he  flew  past  Morgan,  and  before 
the  southern  flag  came  up,  Robert  Warren  dismounted, 
and  kneeling  amid  a  huzza  of  admiration  from  friend 
and  foe,  he  had  the  old  flag  crowned. 

Shortly  after  this  the  barbecue  broke  up,  and  the 
different  companies  of  the  State  Guard  marched  home. 
Before  Allen  Warren  dismissed  his  men  that  evening, 
he  drew  them  up  in  line,  and  addressed  them  as  fol- 
lows : 

"The  President  of  our  country  has  called  for  troops 
to  maintain  the  Union  intact,  and  Kentucky  has  re- 
fused to  respond.  This,  however,  does  not  prevent 
patriots  from  acting  as  individuals.  Let  those  of  you 
who  are  in  favor  of  offering  your  services  to  the  Gov- 
ernment at  once,  draw  your  sabers  and  advance  to  the 
front."  Every  sword  leaped  from  its  scabbard,  and 
every  horse  advanced. 

*'I  feel  proud  of  you,"  said  Allen,  with  more  feeling 
than  he  usually  manifested.  "To-day  you  saw  the 
men  who,  sooner  or  later,  we  must  meet  on  the  field 


PRIVATE  ROBERT  WARREN.  137 

of  battle.  They  are  our  own  brothers  and  friends. 
But  no  tie  of  consanguinity  or  social  relation  must 
hold  us  from  the  road  to  which  duty  points.  Be 
ready  to  start  from  here  at  a  moment's  notice.  And 
if  you  do  not  hear  from  me  before,  we  will  assemble 
the  day  after  to-morrow  at  the  usual  hour  at  our  ren- 
dezvous. Attention!  Right  face!  Break  ranks- 
march  !" 

Individually  the  men  came  up  to  grasp  the  hands  of 
the  cousins  ere  they  rode  to  their  homes,  in  none  of 
which  could  they  find  general  sympathy. 

As  Allen  and  Robert  turned  their  horses  homeward, 
they  talked  over  plans  for  the  future. 

* 'Allen,"  said  Robert,  after  they  had  conversed 
some  time,  "  I  have  decided,  as  you  know,  to  be  a 
full  private  in  your  command  when  we  are  accepted 
by  the  Government.  I  cannot  retain  my  servant,  and 
I  do  not  wish  to  have  him  away  from  me.  Will  you 
engage  him  ?" 

"Certainly,  Robert,  if  it  will  please  you,"  said 
Allen. 

"It  will.  And  then  Archy  is  free,  and  he  does  not 
know  what  to  make  of  it.  He  could  not  care  foi 
himself,  though  he  is  one  of  the  most  faithful,  pious, 
and  reliable  men  in  the  world.  And  to  tell  the  truth, 
we  were  never  parted  for  a  day,  except  when  I  was  at 
college." 

"I  thought  about  it  myself,"  said  Allen,  "before 
you  spoke.  Indeed,  Robert,  I  think  it  will  be  well  to 
remove  Archy,  for  I  understand  our  coquettish  cook, 
Aunt  Pheney,  has  designs  on  his  heart,  though  the 
poor  fellow  talks  about  nothing  but  Susey  and  the 

piccanins." 

12* 


138  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

After  reaching  home  they  found  a  number  of  the 
young  people  assembled  from  the  neighboring  plan- 
tations, to  spend  the  evening  with  Miss  Bell.  All 
were  loud  and  generous  in  their  praises  of  Robert's 
exploit. 

"You  did  splendidly,  cousin  Robert,"  said  Russell, 
*'  though  it  came  near  costing  you  your  life." 

"How  was  that?"  asked  Robert. 

"  Why,  I  heard  one  of  our  most  desperate  men  say 
that  if  you  had  not  acted  so  quickly  he  would  have 
shot  you." 

"What  delightftd  men  you  have  in  your  squadron, 
Russell.  Assure  him  for  me,  should  you  see  him 
again,  that  we  Texans  can  ride  well,  and  shoot  bet- 
ter," said  Robert,  with  a  gay  laugh. 

That  night,  before  Robert  retired,  he  sent  for  Archy, 
and  that  faithful  fellow  soon  appeared,  hat  in  hand. 

"  Archy,  I  am  going  to  leave  here  in  a  few  days,  if 
Mr.  Gaines  is  strong  enough.  I  am  to  be  a  private 
soldier,  and  cannot  have  a  servant.  Would  you  be 
willing  to  go  with  Master  Allen  ?"  asked  Robert. 

*'Mauss  Robut,  I  doesn't  want  to  lebe  yeh.  Why 
can't  T  go  'long,  an'  tote  yer  gun  an'  tings  ?  Ise  got 
lots  of  money  frum  ole  mauss,  an'  can  take  keer  ob 
mysel'."  Archy  spoke  in  a  tremulous  voice.  Bui  he 
brightened  up  when  his  master  explained  that  he 
would  be  near  him  daily,  and  could  help  him,  ii  /ve 
were  Allen's  servant,  when  he  willingly  consented 


CHAPTEE  XV, 


TRIALS    OF    SOUTHERN    LOYALISTS. 

It  was  comparatively  easy  in  the  summer  of  1861, 
when  Lincohi  called  for  troops,  for  the  young  men  of 
the  North  to  respond.  All  their  sympathies  were 
with  the  Union — their  prejudices  as  a  rule  against  the 
South.  They  left  their  homes  with  the  "  G-od-speed  '* 
of  friends  and  relatives,  and  they  stood  in  the  ranks 
beside  brothers  and  schoolmates.  They  had  no  op- 
position to  their  feelings  or  views  of  duty,  and  they 
strengthened  the  ties  of  friendship  and  consanguinity 
by  their  actions.  Hov/  very  different  it  was  with  the 
men  who  fought  for  the  Union  from  the  South.  All 
their  prejudices  and  associations  bound  them  to  their 
States,  and  opposed  them  to  the  "  Yankees."  It  was 
popular  to  favor  secession,  and  social  ostracism  re- 
sulted in  an  opposite  course.  They  had  not  even  the 
blessings  of  mothers  or  the  sympathies  of  fathers  in 
every  case  to  give  them  strength,  and  often,  as  with 
Allen  Warren,  they  had  to  take  sides  against  the 
brothers  they  loved,  and  array  themselves  in  arms 
against  life-long  friends.  They  could  not  organize  in 
their  own  neighborhoods,  but  stealthily,  one  by  one, 
they  had  to  escape  to  some  point  where  they  could 
find  the  flag  protected  by  the  men  of  the  North.  In 
case  of  sickness  or  wounds  there  were  no  furloughs  or 
leaves  of  absence  to  welcome  homes,  for  those  homes 


140  T7ARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

for  four  yenrs  were  scenes  of  constant  strife.  Yet 
with  all  the.-^e  difficulties  staring  them  in  the  face,  in 
addition  to  secession  in  Tennessee,  and  a  false  neu- 
trality in  Kentucky,  by  thousands  gallant  men  from 
each  State  gave  up  homes,  friends,  relatives,  social 
position,  and  early  prejudices,  and  took  upon  them- 
selves hardships,  privations,  and  dangers,  that  the  na- 
tion might  live.  It  is  well  for  the  future  of  America 
that  a  love  for  the  Union  was  not  sectional  or  parti- 
san during  the  war.  Every  southern  State  was  rep- 
resented by  organizations  or  individuals  on  the  side 
of  the  Union,  and  it  can  be  safely  said  that  every 
northern  State  was  represented  in  the  armies  of  the 
South. 

By  the  middle  of  June,  Captain  Warren's  men,  to 
the  number  of  fifty-seven,  had  assembled  at  Jefferson- 
ville,  Indiana.  They  left  their  homes  a  few  at  a  time, 
but  they  found  hundreds  of  loyal  Kentuckians  await- 
ing them,  and  the  number  daily  increasing. 

Nothing  looks  more  peaceful  than  the  first  camp  of 
new  troops,  particularly  if  the  men  remain  long  at  the 
first  rendezvous.  Every  man  gathers  about  him  the 
luxuries  of  home,  and  fixes  up  his  quarters  as  if  he 
intended  pemianently  to  locate  ;  and  as  he  adds  some 
article  of  comfort  to  his  mess  he  never  imagines  that 
it  will  not  be  of  service  during  the  whole  war,  or  that 
he  cannot  carry  it  or  pack  it  away  in  the  company's 
wagons.  Companies  had  wagons  then.  Crackers, 
and  pork,  and  coffee,  were  the  main  features  of  the 
camp  ration  even  at  that  early  day  in  the  war ;  but 
who  thought  of  eating  the  ration  as  a  whole  when 
itinerant  butchers  brought  fresh  meat  to  camp  daily 
and  fresh  bread  could  be  had  at  a  few^  cents  a  pound  ? 


CA^IP  LIFE— A  SCOUT.  ui 

Venders  of  tough  cakes  and  doubtful  pies  made  for^ 
tunes  in  our  first  camps,  and  purchasers  of  bacon  and 
hurd-tack  secured  those  articles  at  a  fearful  discount. 
Concocters  of  lemonade  and  retailers  of  other  doubt- 
ful drinks  always  commanded  purchasers,  and  the 
cheap  literature  and  card  trade  did  a  flourishing 
business.  The  camp  at  Jeffersonville  was  the  heaven 
of  dogs,  cats,  little  pigs,  and  saucy-looking  chickens, 
for  the  men  wanted  pets,  and  their  tastes  in  that  line 
were  variable.  Yet  the  new  life  on  which  Robert 
Warren  entered  was  not  monotonous,  though  he 
longed  for  an  advance.  There  was  the  daily  drill, 
the  parade,  inspection,  guard  duty,  and  camp  detail, 
which  usually  occupied  his  time.  Every  moment  not 
so  occupied  was  spent  in  studying  tactics,  and  General 
P.  St.  George  Cooke  never  had  a  more  faithful  stu- 
dent than  Robert  Warren.  Archy  acted  as  cook  for 
Captain  Warren,  and  as  no  election  had  yet  been  held 
for  officers,  all  the  friends  messed  together  without 
any  breach  of  military  etiquette. 

During  the  month  of  August  it  was  rumored  that 
the  rebels,  who  were  swarming  along  the  southern 
border  of  Kentucky,  were  preparing  to  advance  into 
the  State :  but  so  closely  did  they  guard  their  lines 
that  it  was  difficult  to  obtain  reliable  information. 
At  this  time  Robert  Warren  was  sent  into  the  State 
on  detached  service,  and  while  he  did  not  like  the 
nature  of  his  duties,  he  was  glad  to  have  the  monot- 
ony of  camp  life  broken.  He  returned  on  the  first 
day  of  September,  and  reported  the  enemy  preparing 
to  violate  Kentucky's  neutrality.  The  information 
he  obtained  was  of  the  most  valuable  kind,  because 
wholly  reliable.     Three  days  after  his  return.  General 


143  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Polk,  at  the  head  of  twenty  thousand  men,  ad  vane-  -J 
into  Kentucky,  and,  with  a  soldier's  instinct,  seized 
the  impregnable  bluffs  in  and  around  Columbus. 
This  incident  was  hailed  with  joy  by  the  Union  Ken- 
tuckians  fighting  in  West  Virginia  and  in  camp  north 
of  the  Ohio.  Across  the  river  and  over  the  moun- 
tains they  poured,  and  the  southern  flags  so  boldly 
displayed  in  Louisville  were  withdrawn  when  that 
bravest  of  Kentucky*s  sons,  General  Rousseau,  at  the 
head  of  his  intrepid  legion,  unfurled  the  flag  of  the 
Union  and  marched  south  through  the  streets  of  the 
city  from  which  he  had  been  virtually  a  refugee. 
Noble  Rousseau,  let  men  speak  of  thy  post  heJlum  acts 
as  they  may,  their  slander  cannot  dim  thy  fame,  nor 
blot  from  the  history  of  thy  country  the  deeds  of 
glory  written  in  blood  with  thy  sword.  Never  doubt- 
ing when  duty  called ;  never  wanting  when  danger 
threatened. 

Camps  w^ere  soon  established  for  Union  troops  in 
northern  and  central  Kentucky,  and  seeing  the  war 
was  upon  them,  neutrality  was  thrown  aside,  and  men 
openly  ranged  themselves  for  or  against  the  nation. 
Buckner,  with  the  majority  of  the  State  Guard,  went 
south.  Captain  Morgan  remained  in  Lexington  till 
after  the  Union  troops  took  possession,  never  attempt- 
ing to  hide  his  sentiments.  Learning  one  night  that 
his  arms  would  be  seized  next  day  by  a  Federal  offi- 
cer, with  a  boldness  and  cunning  characteristic  of 
the  man,  he  called  a  meeting  of  his  company  at  the 
armory  in  the  center  of  the  town.  He  told  his  men 
the  time  had  come  to  leave.  He  proposed  starting 
that  night,  and  if  there  was  not  a  man  for  every  mus- 
ket, he  would  take  the  muskets  and  find  men.     His 


JOHN  MORGAN'S  RUSE.  U3 

proposal  met  with  a  quick  response,  and  the  Rifles 
that  night  started  south  from  a  Federal  camp.  The 
next  morning  the  news  spread  that  Morgan  had  gone, 
and  troops  were  sent  in  pursuit.  They  returned  at 
night  congratulating  themselves  with  the  capture  of 
the  two  wagons  containing  the  arms.  The  long  boxes 
were  unloaded  and  stored  carefully  away,  and  it  was 
some  time  afterwards  that  on  being  opened  the  boxes 
were  found  to  be  filled  with  stones.  Morgan  had 
prepared  the  wagons  for  capture,  threw  his  pursuers 
on  the  wrong  track,  and  escaped  with  his  rifles.  This 
was  the  first  war  act  of  the  great  raider.  Captain 
Bruce,  Morgan's  brother-in-law,  about  the  same  time 
joined  the  Union  army  and  raised  a  regiment. 

The  legislature  of  Kentucky  at  this  time  appeared 
to  wake  up.  The  secessionists  offered  a  resolution 
asking  the  northern  troops  to  leave  the  State,  but  it 
was  lost,  and  a  resalution,  introduced  by  the  Union 
men,  asking  Bishop  Polk  to  withdraw  from  Kentucky, 
was  earned  by  a  large  majority.  It  is  needless  to 
say  that  the  martial  bishop  did  not  obey  the  request, 
but  went  on  fortifying  his  post  as  if  he  intended  to 
remain  permanently. 

The  post  of  Camp  Dick  Robinson,  near  Danville, 
called  after  the  noble  man.  on  whose  farm  it  was  es- 
tablished, became  the  great  rendezvous  for  the  Union 
men  of  the  South.  Here  the  regiment  to  which  the 
Warrens  and  Gaines  were  attached  was  stationed, 
though  detachments  were  always  on  the  move,  mak- 
ing futile  raids  in  the  direction  of  Humphrey  Mar- 
shall's lines,  or  south  with  the  hope  of  feeling  Zolli- 
cofTer's  advance. 

Captain   Warren's    company  was    alv/ays   on    the 


144  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

move,  and  while  they  never  had  what  gi'een  soldiers 
desire,  yet  dread,  a  brush  with  the  enemy,  they  got  a 
good  knowledge  of  the  country  to  the  south,  and 
gathered  up  hundreds  of  refugees,  who  were  swarming 
in  from  East  Tennessee.  It  was  sad  to  see  those 
men,  ragged  and  footsore,  armed  with  the  squirrel  rifle 
and  shot-gun,  creeping  into  the  Union  lines. 

One  night  while  in  camp  in  the  broken  country 
southeast  of  Crab  Orchard,  Robert  Warren  was  sta- 
tioned as  an  advanced  vedette  about  half  a  mile 
down  the  road.  It  was  about  two  o'clock,  and  unu- 
sually dark.  Archy,  who  sought  every  opportunity 
of  being  with  his  old  master,  had  gone  out  to  the 
post,  and  was  conversing  in  a  whisper;  as  they  stood 
beside  their  horses.  Suddenly  they  stopped  talking. 
Something  was  moving  in  the  bushes  to  the  left  of 
the  road.  They  listened,  and  heard  distinctly  two 
persons  talking  in  a  low  tone  and  moving  cautiously, 
as  if  to  get  closer  to  the  vedette.  Robert  quickly 
unslung  his  carbine,  and,  stepping  in  a  stooping  pos- 
ture near  the  bushes,  he  shouted  out : 

"  Halt !  who  goes  there  ?" 

No  reply  came,  but  two  men  started  from  their 
crouching  position  and  ran  past  him.  He  called  on 
them  to  halt  again,  when  one  of  the  men  turned  and 
fired,  the  ball  whistling  past  Robert's  head.  The 
flash  had  hardly  died  out  when  he  fired,  and  a  cry  of 
pain  came  from  one  of  the  men,  and  another  shot 
from  his  companion.  Robert  had  his  finger  on  the 
trigger  to  fire  again  when  a  voice  called  out,  "We 
suiTender !  we  surrender !" 

Calling  Archy  to  advance  with  the  horses,  Robert, 
with  his  pistol  cocked,  walked  to  the  spot  from  which 


THE  UNFORTUNATE  SHOT.  145 

he  heard  the  shout,  and  there  found  the  two  men. 
One  was  lying  on  the  ground  groaning,  and  the  other 
was  kneeling  by  his  side,  wringing  his  hands  and  cry- 
ing, *•  Ned,  Ned,  my  boy — my  own  boy  !  Oh,  God ! 
they  have  killed  you  !" 

"  Who  are  you  ?"  demanded  Warren. 

"We  're  from  Tennessee,  sir,"  said  the  man  who 
was  kneeling. 

* '  Yes  ;  but  what  is  your  command  ?  Are  there  any 
more  of  your  men  near  here?"  asked  Kobert. 

"  No,  sir ;  only  we  'uns.  We  do  n't  belong  to  no 
command ;  and  my  poor  Ned — he's  all  that's  left, 
sir ;  an'  he  won't  be  left  long,"  said  the  man,  bending 
over  the  prostrate  form. 

**  You  're  a  rebel,  are  you  not  ?"  asked  Kobert. 

**No,  sir;  no,  sir,"  replied  the  kneeling  man  as  he 
tottered  to  his  feet,  "  but  you  are.  Yeh  would  n't  'a 
shot  Ned  if  yeh  wuz  n't." 

The  truth  flashed  upon  Robert.  He  felt  the  cold 
sweat  flashing  upon  his  brow.  Those  men  were 
refugees. 

The  firing  had  alamaed  the  posts  to  the  rear,  and 
through  them  the  company  was  soon  under  arms  and 
formed  so  as  to  place  the  fire  between  them  and  any 
advancing  foe.  In  a  few  minutes,  a  number  of  men 
who  had  been  sent  forward  by  Captain  Warren  ar- 
rived, and,  leammg  the  state  of  affairs,  they  placed 
the  wounded  man  in  a  blanket,  and  Archy,  with  three 
other  stalwart  fellows,  carried  him  back  to  camp. 
Robert  was  relieved  shortly  after  this,  and  he  ner- 
vously hurried  to  the  fires  to  ascertain  the  fate  of  the 
man  whom  he  had  shot. 

He  found  Captain  WaiTen  kneeling  over  the  form 
13 


He  TTARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

in  the  blanket,  and  trying  to  stop  the  blood  which 
was  flowing  from  the  right  breast  of  the  wounded  boy, 
for  such  he  was.  He  could  not  have  been  over  six- 
teen. His  form,  poorly  clad,  was  very  slender,  and 
his  fair,  curly  hair  v/as  brushed  back  by  the  old,  gi'ey- 
lieaded  man  who  moaned  by  his  side. 

Robert,  like  a  great  many  of  the  southern  planters, 
knew  something  about  medicine  and  surgery,  and, 
though  very  much  agitated,  he  was  soon  at  work 
examining  the  wound.  The  ball  had  struck  the  boy 
in  the  right  breast  as  he  was  in  the  act  of  firing,  and, 
glancing  around,  it  came  out  under  his  arm.  As  there 
was  no  bleeding  from  the  mouth  or  nose,  Robert  felt 
encouraged,  and  knew  that  the  lad  was  suffering  more 
from  the  shock  and  the  loss  of  blood  than  any  vital 
injury.  Giving  hin*  some  stimulants,  he  soon  stopped 
the  bleeding,  and  dressed  the  womid.  Blankets  were 
not  wanting  to  make  a  comfortable  bed  for  the  little 
fellow  close  to  the  fire  ;  and  when  he  turned  and  said, 
"  Grandad,  I  feel  all  right  agin,"  the  old  man  thanked 
God,  and  wept  like  a  child. 

Captain  Warren,  with  a  characteristic  thoughtful- 
ness,  had  supper  prepared  for  the  fugitives,  and  Archy 
never  worked  more  rapidly  or  willingly  than  in  its 
preparation.  The  boy  ate  heartily,  wounded  as  he 
WTis,  and  the  old  man,  satisfied  by  Robert  that  the 
boy  was  safe,  devoured  the  food  set  before  him  like 
a  famished  man.  After  both  had  eaten.  Captain 
Warren  brought  the  old  man  a  pipe,  for  which  he 
seemed  grateful,  and  a  number  of  the  men,  including 
Gaines,  gathered  about  the  gi'oup  at  the  fire,  while 
the  lad  closed  his  eyes  and  slept. 

"  I  am  son-y,"  said  Robert,  as  he  looked  from  the 


EXPLANATIONS.  147 

blazing  logs  to  the  old  man's  face,  "  that  I  was  com- 
pelled to  fire  at  you.  You  should  have  halted  when 
I  challenged  you,  and  you  ought  not  to  have  fired 
on  me.'* 

"That's  true,  stranger,"  said  the  old  man,  "but  I 
reckoned  ye  wuz  rebels.  I  did  n'  t  'spect  to  fine  fren's 
so  near." 

"Why,  where  were  you  bound  for?"  asked  the 
captain. 

"I  wuz  goin'  to  the  Union  camp,"  said  the  old 
man,  "  an'  'bout  an  hour  afore  I  met  you  'uns,  Ned 
an*  I  came  near  runnin'  plum  inter  a  grist  of  rebels. 
They  wuz  n't  mor'  'n  a  half  mile  from  whar  Ned  wuz 
shot,  an'  I  thought  when  I  heard  a  man  holler  ter 
halt  that  it  wuz  them.  Ned  an'  I  have  had  a  mighty 
tough  time  a  gittin'  her-e,  strangers,  an'  I  did  n't  want 
to  be  tuck  gist  when  I  wuz  near  over  my  trouble." 

"  Is  this  lad  yom*  son  ?"  asked  Graines,  who  drew 
near  to  the  old  man. 

"No,  stranger;  he's  my  son's  son.  His  father's 
dead.  He  wuz  shot  'bout  six  weeks  gone."  The  old 
man's  voice  trembled,  and  he  took  the  pipe  from  his 
mouth  and  looked  over  at  the  sleeping  boy.  "  Ned's 
all  that's  left,"  he  continued.  "Thar wuz  three  more 
of  us,  but  they've  only  left  Ned,  an'  if  I  hadn't  a 
started  whin  I  did,  they'd  a'  got  us  too.  We've  had 
a  rough  road,  strangers." 

**I  am  very  son*y,  old  gentleman,  that  I  have  given 
such  a  painful  termination  to  your  journey.  But  you 
must  know  I  did  my  duty." 

"  Sartinly,  stranger ;  we'uns  started  the  shootin," 
said  the  old  man;  "an'  he  mout  a  hit  you,  all  the 
same.'* 


148  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

The  Old  man  still  smoked,  and  after  Archy  had 
spread  some  blankets  for  him,  Robert  said  : 

*'  You  must  need  rest.  I  have  had  a  bed  made  for 
you,  and  while  I  should  like  to  hear  your  story  I  hope 
I  may  have  that  pleasure  some  other  time." 

*  *  No,  stranger ;  I'm  rested  now.  I'm  'mong  frien's, 
an'  I  feel  a  load  taken  frum  my  heart  on  his  account," 
pointing  to  the  sleeping  boy.  "  I  can't  close  my  eyes 
this  night,  an'  if  it  wouldn't  tire  yeh,  I'll  tell  yeh  all 
*  bout  it." 

The  group  drew  closer  to  the  fire,  and  the  old  man 
began. 


CHAPTEK    XVI 


THE   OLD   man's   STORY. 

"We  come'd  from  near  the  Harricane.  Yeh  don't 
know  whar  the  Harricane  is  ?  No  ?  Well,  mos'  peo- 
ple don't  what  I've  met.  Its  twenty  miles  north  of 
Cleveland,  right  close  ter  Georgia.  Reckon,  stran- 
gers, none  on  yeh  ^vuz  ever  thar?  Supposed  not,  but 
its  right  smart  country  roun'  thar.  I've  lived  near 
the  Harricane  nigh  on  ter  fifty  year,  an'  I  wuz  a  man 
whin  I  went  in  thar  with  my  father  from  North  Caro- 
lina. All  that  section  'bout  the  Harricane  wuz  then 
held  by  Injuns — Cherokees  an'  sich.  You  remember 
they  wuz  toted  wes'  by  Ole  Hickory.  Ole  Hickory 
wuz  my  man.  I  voted  fiu*  him  fust,  las',  an'  all  the 
time.  Pity  he  wasn't  livin'  !  What  did  yeh  ask? 
Yes,  I  farmed  some,  but  I  wuz  poor,  an'  so  wuz  the 
ole  man  ;  we  never  owned  niggers,  sorry  to  say.  My 
ole  woman's  dead.  Hez  bin  nigh  outer  fifteen  year, 
an'  I  lived  with  Ned.  Ned  wuz  my  oldest  boy.  Dan 
and  Dick  lived  clos'  by,  an'  did  some  farmin'  too ; 
they  wam't  much  at  it  though.  They  did  right  smart 
kuntin'  in  the  mountains,  though  game  ain't  like  whin 
I  fust  went  ter  the  Harricane.  Wuz  Ned,  an'  Dan* 
an'  Dick  all  my  children?  No,  stranger;  I've  one 
gal  livin',  an'  tother  one,  purty  as  a  peach,  died  six 
tveeks  ago.  Poor  chile,  it  bruk  her  heart  whin  they 
hanged  Bill  Smith,  her  husband.     Yes,  stranger,  'twuz 

12* 


Tr>0  WARREX  OF  TEXAS. 

th  rebels.  I've  got  another  son  in  Texas.  Ills 
name's  Jim,  but  I  ain't  seen  him  since  afore  the  ole 
woman  died.  He  wuz  a  restless  feller,  an'  I  heard  as 
how  he  got  in  agin  with  the  Cherokees  what  used  ter 
be  roun'  the  Harricane  when  he  wuz  small.  'Squire 
Roberts  tole  me  he  saw  in  a  paper  that  Jim  wuz  hung 
in  Texas.  Shouldn't  wonder,  fur  they've  killed  all 
my  kin  but  him  sleepin'  over  thar.  Glad  to  know, 
stranger,  yeh  think  Ned '11  live.  Not  that  life's  much 
ter  me  now,  but  I  promised  the  boy  we'd  go  back  ter 
the  Harricane  an'  revenge  his  father. 

"I'll  tell  you  'uns  all  'bout  the  'lection.  I'd  orter 
begun  thar,  but  my  mine  is  all  a  buzzin,'  an'  I've  got 
a  big  load  on  my  heart.  I  hope,  stranger,  (looking  at 
Robert)  you'll  never  feel  as  I  have.  Me  nor  the  boys 
didn't  know  much  'bout  politics.  "We  allers  voted 
democrat.  Yeh  know  ole  Hickory  wuz  a  democrat, 
an'  that  ar's  my  principle  all  the  time.  All  our  folks 
voted  Douglas ;  reckon  that  wuz  all  squar'.  Wall, 
glad  you  uns  think  so,  fur  we  allers  meant  right, 
though  none  on  us,  'cept  Ned,  has  got  any  schoolin'. 
Did  yeh  ask  Ned's  name  besides  Ned?  Yes?  AVall, 
it's  Dawn.     Dawn's  my  name,  too. 

*' After  the  'lection  we  thought  things  wuz  all  right. 
We  uns  heerd  all  'bout  Lincoln  bein'  President,  an'  I 
tole  the  boys  I  vraz  sorry  it  wuzn'  t  Douglas,  an'  they 
all  'gi'eed  the  hull  wuz  far,  an'  we'd  git  Douglas  in 
some  other  time. 

"  The  nex'  thing  we  know'd  the  rich  white  men 
from  Coosa  an' Ringgold  an'  Chattanooga  wuz  a  hoi  in' 
meetin's  through  the  country,  an'  cryin'  fur  war,  an» 
sayin'  the  time  had  cum  ter  bust  the  Union.  I  tole 
Tim  Cheatham,  at  a  meetin',  that  ^\'uzn't  my  doctrine, 


THE  OLD  MAN'S  STORY.  151 

an'  he  stopped  an'  called  me  a  traitor,  an'  said  he'd 
sii(^ot  1113.  I  wuzn't  very  much  skeered,  but  tlieboys, 
knowin'  I'd  speak  out  agin  breakin'  the  Union,  took 
me  off. 

' '  They  had  another  'lection,  but  as  it  looked  like  a 
fight,  the  boys  an'  me  staid  away,  fiu-  hundreds  an' 
hundreds  of  men  come  over  from  Georgia,  an'  voted 
in  Tennessee.  Me  an'  the  boys  seed  how  it  wuz.  The 
rich  men  wuz  boun'  ter  break  up  the  Union,  an'  they 
wanted  ter  make  it  look  as  if  the  people  wuz  willin'. 
Mos'  of  my  neighbors  roun'  the  Harricane  didn't  vote, 
fur  'twuzn't  any  kinder  use. 

"  Wall,  after  this  they  began  raisin'  sojers,  an'  a 
rite  smart  of  young  men  what  know'd  nothin'  'bout 
the  Union  or  secession,  fired  up  an'  went  in.  My  boys 
all  thought  like  me.  They  wuzn't  agoin'  agin  the 
country.  One  day  a  feller,  callin'  himself  Cap'n 
Rusk,  with  a  hull  lot  more  men,  come  over  from  Cleve- 
land an'  said  he  w^anted  my  boys  ter  list.  Thar  wuz 
only  me  an'  Dick  home  at  the  time.  No,  Dick  wuzn't 
married,  he  wuz  my  youngest  boy,  an'  has  been  help- 
in'  me  since  I  got  ole.  Cap'n  Rusk  said  ter  me 
when  I  met  him  at  the  door : 

"  *  Are  you  ole  Dawn?' 

*'  I  said  I  wuz  the  same. 

"  'I  understan','  said  Rusk,  'that  you're  a  Yankee 
an'  all  yer  boys.' 

"  I  tole  him  I  reckoned  not,  seeln'  as  I  wuz  born  in 
North  Carolina,  an'  had  lived  at  Harricane  fifty  year, 
an'  the  boys  wuz  all  riz  'roun'  thar. 

"  '  Wall,'  he  said,  cussin'  awful,  '  it  don't  matter  jes* 
whar  yer  uns  wuz  born  ter  make  yeh  Yankees.  The 
meanest  Yankees  I  knows  on  is  right  har  in  Tennessee.* 


J 52  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"  I  said  I  knowed  that  'ar  wuz  true,  mosly,  fur  a  lot 
of  men  who  wuz  Yankees  by  birth  was  now  South 
bustin'  up  the  Union,  jes'  coz  they  owned  niggers. 

**  I  didn't  mean  ter  rile  Rusk,  but  he  got  terrible 
mad,  an'  said :  *  I  come  clar*  over  har  ter  see  you  uns, 
an'  if  yer  boys  don't  jine  in  an'  fight  fur  the  confer- 
acy,  we'll  hang  'era  shuah.' 

"  I  tole  him  I  reckoned  not  much  would  he  hang. 
My  boys  wouldn't  lie  'roun'  an'  let  folks  hang  'em. 

"  *"Whar  is  yer  boys?'  said  Rusk. 

"'I  don't  know,'  says  I,  *but  we  uns  is  'roun'  har 
purty  much  altogether  the  hull  time.' 

** '  Then,'  said  Rusk,  cussin',  '  I'll  stay  till  they  come, 
an' I'll  wait  inside  this  house  fur  'em,  an'  I'll  sen' 
men  over  ter  the  other  houses  and  catch  the  hull  lot.* 

"  Then  he  sent  off  mos'  of  the  men  ter  Dan's  an' 
Dick's.  Little  Ned  wuz  in  my  house  all  the  time,  an' 
Dick  laid  low  awaitin'.  Now,  I  owned  my  o^vn  house, 
an'  says  I  ter  myself :  '  Mr.  Rusk,  yer  not  agoin'  ter 
walk  right  inter  my  house  without  I  choose  ter  let 
yeh.'  I  ain't  very  strong,  to  be  sure,  strangers  ;  les* 
wise,  not  so  strong  as  when  I  wuz  young,  but  I'm  jes* 
'bout  as  hard  to  skeer,  an'  when  Rusk  got  off  his  crit- 
ter, I  picked  up  a  ax  near  the  doah  an'  waited. 

**He  walked  up  kinder  bold,  an'  I  waited  till  he 
come  ter  the  doah,  an'  I  spread  myself  out. 

*' '  Get  outer  the  way,  yeh  d — d  ole  traitor,'  said 
Rusk,  catchin'  me  an'  pullin  me  by  the  collar. 

"  *No,'  says  I,  *  this  is  my  house,  an'  onlessyou  uns 
has  the  law  with  yeh,  yeh  can't  go  in.' 

"  While  I  wuz  speakin'  he  struck  me,  an'  I  fell  agin* 
the  wall  a-bleedin'.  Dick  heerd  all  an'  seed  all,  an' 
he  run  out  jes'  as  Rusk  cocked  his  pistol  an'  wuz  pint- 


THE  OLD  MAN'S  STORY.  153 

in'  it  at  me.     That  wuz  enough  fur  Dick.     I  seed  the 
devil  bumin'  in  his  eyes  as  he  picked  up  the  ax,  an' 
with  one  hand  swung  it  clar  inter  Rusk's  head,  and  he 
fell  right  afore  me.     Then  Dick  tuk  hold  of  me,  an' 
afore  I  knowed  it,  we  wuz  in  the  house  an'  the  doah  closed. 
"  « Now,  dad,  we  uns  have  ter  fight,'  said  Dick,  an* 
he  run  to  a  winder  with  his  rifle.     We'd  lots  of  arms, 
an'  I  took  my  own  gun.     I'm  hard  to  beat,  strangers, 
with  a  rifle.     "When  we  looked  out  we  seed  some  of 
Rusk's  frien's  a-tryin'  to  tote  him  off,  an'  others  watch- 
in'  fur  us.     Jes'  as  soon  as  we  showed  our  heads  they 
fired.     Then  me  an'  Dick  let  drive,  an'  I  tell  yeh, 
frien's,  Rusk's  men  didn't  make  nothin'  by  it,  neither. 
•'  Wall,  Ned  thar,  (pointing  with  his  pipe  to  the 
wounded  boy,)  he  loaded  the  guns  fur  us,  an'  fur  nigh 
an  hour  we  had  some  tall  shootin'.     Then  the  res'  of 
Rusk's  men  came  up  a  yellin'  an'  cussin'  like  mad,  an' 
swarin'  they'd  bum  the  house.     Dick  saw  one  of  them 
a  crawlin'  up  with  some  fire,  an'  he  jes'  riz  ter  the  winder 
an'  drawed  a  bead  an'  blazed,  an'  then  I  heerd  another 
shot,  an'  Dick  jumped  back  inter  the  room  an'  fell 
dead    with    a  bullet-hole   right  over  his  right  eye. 
Strangers,  I  can't  tell  yeh  how  I  felt  then,  but  I  didn't 
grow  weaker  as  I'd  a-thought  aforehand.     Me  an'  Ned 
lifted  Dick  a-one  side,  an'  Ned  took  his  gun  an'  Dick's 
place  at  the  winder. 

Bimeby,  I  heerd  some  shoutin',  an'  Ned  looked  out 
an'  saw  his  dad  an'  Dan  an'  some  others  a-gallopin'  up 
like  mad.  I  tell  yeh,  strangers,  whin  I  heerd  that  I 
purty  near  dropped.  But  Rusk's  men  jes'  scooted 
when  they  seed  our  frien's.  I  don't  know  how  many 
we  hit  beside  Rusk,  but  a  right  smart,  I  reckon,  seein' 
as  how  thar  wuz  seven  blood-puddles  outside. 


154  W^ARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"Wall,  Dan  an'  Ned  an'  Bill  Smith  an'  four  others 
of  our  frien's  came,  an'  I  showed  'em  Dick  dead  on  the 
floor  with  his  eyes  open  an'  the  red  blood  a-droppin* 
from  his  hair.  I  can't  tell  yeh  how  we  all  felt.  I  tole 
the  boys  jes'  how  it  stood,  an'  we  staid  thar  an'  talked 
and  'vised  with  one  another.  Ned's  wife,  she  wuz 
over  with  her  little  girl,  Sally,  a-seein'  Dan's  wife, 
who'  d  had  a  baby  two  months  afore,  an'  when  she  an* 
Sally  got  back,  they  took  on  awful. 

"  AVall,  strangers,  I  don't  like  ter  tire  yeh,  but  this 
is  the  fust  chance  I've  had  ter  talk, an'  it  kinder  light- 
ens my  heart  to  tell  it  all  over  ter  frien's. 

*'We  knowed  thar  wuz  no  kinder  use  in  stay  in* 
aroun'  the  Harricane,  so  we  left  Ned  at  home  with  his 
mother,  an'  Bill  Smith's  wife  bein'  far  gone  an'  skeery, 
he  couldn't  leave  her,  so  he  staid  back  too,  an'  prom- 
ised Dan  ter  see  to  his  place  till  w^e  seed  what  wuz 
goin'  ter  happen.  That  night  we  took  ter  the  hills 
an'  staid  out  a  week  afore  we  heard  any  news.  Then 
Role,  'Squire  Robert's  nigger,  hunted  us  up  an'  tole 
us  that  the  night  afore  they  cotched  Bill  Smith  an' 
hung  him  in  front  of  his  outi  house,  an'  his  wife  a-ly- 
ing  sick  on  the  bed,  and  that  little  Ned,  over  thar, 
wuz  in  prison.  I'll  tell  yeh.  strangers,  that  come  hard. 
TV'e  all  kinder  got  desprate.  We  couldn't  live  all  tlie 
time  in  the  hills,  fur  game  wuz  skeerce,  an'  I  knowed 
by  the  tracks  in  the  woods  they  wuz  huntin'  us,  an' 
would  tree  us  bimeby,  an'  mayhap  hang  dan  an*  Ned 
without  seein'  their  waives.  As  fur  me,  I  jis'  wanted 
ter  die,  but  I  thought  on  Ned,  over  thar,  an'  wanted 
to  live  fur  him. 

"  Wall,  we 'greed  ter  go  down  ter  the  Harricane, 
an'  we  got  in  that  night,  an'  thar  wuz  no  one  aroun' 


THE  OLD  MAN'S  STORY.  155 

cept  our  fren's,  an'  had  n't  been  all  clay.  TTe  went 
asleep.  I  wuz  with  Ned  ;  an'  I  tell  ye  my  ole  bones, 
like  my  heart,  wanted  res'.  But  I  could  n't  sleep  for 
thinkin'  of  Dick,  an'  Bill  Smith,  an'  poor  little  Ned, 
over  in  Cleveland  in  prison. 

"Afore  day  jes'  a  little  we  wuz  all  woke  up  by  men 
a  rappin'  an'  a  yellin'  at  the  doah.  Ned  cum  over 
whar  I  wuz  crawlin'  inter  my  clothes.  *  Dad,'  says  he, 
•they've  come  fur  we  uns.  I'll  not  be  tuk.  I'll 
fight  till  I  die.' 

"  I  tole  him  not  to  shoot,  I  wuz  sick  of  blood,  an' 
he  might  get  off  without ;  but  he  would  n't  hear  me. 
Says  he,  *  Dad,  I  know  they  've  come  ter  kill,  an'  I  '11 
make  'em  pay  for  it.  You  lie  low  while  I  try  ter  run 
for  it ;  an'  if  I  die,  or  never  get  back,  take  care  of 
the  two  Sals  an'  little  Ned,' — meanin*  him.  His  w;fe 
tuk  on  awful ;  but 't  was  n't  long.  I  heard  him  kiss 
the  two  gals ;  then  a  kinder  quick  he  opened  the 
doah,  an'  with  his  rifle  clubbed  he  leaped  out.  I 
could  hear  the  shots,  an'  yells,  an'  blows,  an'  groans, 
an'  then  a  cheer  from  a  lot  of  'em,  like  devils,  an'  I 
knew  Ned  wuz  killed, 

"  This  is  the  hardest  part  ter  git  over,  frien's.  No 
one  could  tell  me  aforehand  I'd  a-lived  through  it. 
They  hauled  me  out  an'  showed  me  the  body,  and  the 
two  Sals  run  out  an'  put  thar  arms  aroun'  it,  an'  took 
on  as  if  their  hearts  'ud  break.  The  day  wuz  jest  a 
clarin'  in  when  they  put  handcuffs  on  me,  an'  rhey 
made  me  walk  ter  Cleveland,  though  the  sun  wuz  hot 
an'  my  heart  seemed  like  a  ton  in  my  breast. 

*'  They  couldn't  make  me  feel  wus  whin  they  tole 
me  Dan  wuz  dead.  He  died  a  fightin',  though,  seein' 
as  how  I  heerd  them  speak  about  four  dead  men,  an' 
I  know'd  Ned  killed  two. 


156  WARREN   OF  TEXAS. 

"  Wall,  when  we  got  ter  Cleveland  they  put  me  in  a 
kinder  celler  whar  thar  wuz  more  prisners,  an'  in  thar 
wuz  little  Ned. 

"  Me  an'  him  staid  in  thar  a  month,  an'  at  night 
he  slept  in  my  arms.  Yes,  they  give  us  plenty  ter  eat, 
sich  as  it  wuz,  but  little  Ned  wanted  the  sun  an'  the 
air.  I  could  see  him  wiltin'  away  afore  my  eyes.  I 
don't  know  why  they  let  us  out ;  thar  wuz  nine  boys 
an'  ole  me  with  us.  They'd  'a  let  me  out  afore  if  I'd 
swar  to  support  the  Confederacy,  but  I  tole  'em  the 
Union  cost  me  too  much  ter  sell  out  so  cheap. 

* '  Did  yeh  ask  if  any  tuk  the  oath  ?  "Wall,  yes,  right 
smart.  Poor  critters,  I  didn't  blame  them.  It's  a 
hard  thing  ter  be  crowded  in  the  dark,  an'  layin'  on  a 
cold  floor  an'  thinkin'  of  one's  little  ones. 

*'  No,  they  never  tried  us.  Ned  an'  I  went  back  ter 
the  Harricane,  an'  Bill  Smith's  wife  an'  baby  that  died 
whin  she  did,  an'  as  soon  as  it  wuz  bom,  wuz  layin'  in 
the  groun'  with  her  husbau'. 

*' The  two  Sals  wuz  glad  ter  see  us,  an*  took  on 
right  smart.  They'd  had  a  tough  time,  but  'Squire 
Roberts  helped  them.  The  'Squire  wuz  fur  the  South, 
but  he  wuz  a  good  man  fur  all.  'Twas  he  'vised  me 
ter  start  North,  a  promisin'  ter  take  car'  of  the  two 
Sals. 

"I've  kept  you  'uns  up  now  longer  than  I'd  orter, 
but 't  would  take  till  day  fur  me  ter  tell  all  about  the 
rough  times  me  an'  Ned  had  comin'  here.  We  met 
lots  of  Union  men  in  the  mountains,  an'  all  'peared 
ter  suffered  jes'  like  us.  Six  weeks,  strangers,  we  uns 
have  been  travelin',  hungry  an'  footsore  an'  sleepy. 
An'  Ned  never  let  down  once.  Whin  I  played  out 
he  toted  my  gun,  an'  whin  it  wuz  cold  sleepin'  if  *he 


THE  OLD  MAN  SLEEPS.  157 

mountains  he  hugged  up  near  an'  put  his  arms  roun' 
ter  keep  me  warm. 

"  Yer  sure  Ned  ain't  bad  hurt?"  asked  the  old  man, 
looking  earnestly  at  Robert. 

' '  Yes,  my  friend ;  I  am  sure  he  will  soon  be  all 
right." 

"  Wall,  I  feel  better  than  since  Dick  wuz  killed  afore 
my  eyes.  I  think,  now  that  I've  got  this  off  my  mind, 
I  kin  sleep." 

So  saying,  the  old  man  lay  down  on  the  blankets 
Archy  had  prepared,  and  was  soon  sleeping  as  souidly 
as  little  Ned. 


CHAPTEE  XVII 


PREPARING   FOR   ACTIVE   SERVICE. 

A  few  days  after  the  incidents  narrated  in  the  pre- 
vious chapter,  Captain  Warren  returned  with  his  com- 
pany to  Camp  Dick  Robinson.  There  little  Xed  was 
placed  under  the  care  of  an  Army  surgeon  and  the 
old  man's  heart  was  made  glad  by  the  prospect  of  the 
speedy  recovery  of  his  boy. 

Eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-one  passed  slowly  avv'ay 
leaving  behind  its  record  of  humiliating  defeat  to  the 
Union  forces.  More  than  one  sans^uine  heart  beijan 
to  feel  the  gloom  that  hung  over  the  nation,  and  none 
fully  appreciated  the  task  that  lay  before  the  national 
forces.  Though  Robert  WaiTen  had  benefited  by  his 
six  months  training  in  camp  and  on  the  scout,  he 
longed  to  be  brought  in  direct  contact  with  the 
enemy  ;  not  that  he  courted  danger,  but  he  knew  that 
fierce  battles  must  be  fought,  and  the  sooner  the  bet- 
ter. This  desire  possessed  all  the  troops  in  that  por- 
tion of  Kentucky,  and  they  hailed  with  joy  the  rumor 
that  passed  through  the  camp  early  in  January,  1S02, 
that  they  were  to  move  south  against  ZollicoiTer. 
The  southern  general,  with  his  Tennessee,  Mississippi, 
and  Alabama  brigades,  at  the  same  time  threatened 
an  advance  in  force,  and  it  :^'as  soon  evident  tliat  a 
collision  Avould  take  place. 

On  the  IGth  of  the  u'cnvh  W^r'-e'x'^  v^PvDPa>-    ttni* 


ON  THE  SKIRMISH  LINE.  152 

porarily  attached  to  the  First  Cavalry,  was  sent  out  to 
picket  the  approaches  near  Logan's  Cross  Roads,  a 
few  miles  north  of  the  Cumberland  River,  along  which 
the  enemy  were  strongly  encamped.  There  is  no  la- 
bor so  trying  to  green  troops  as  picketing  close  to  the 
enemy,  particulaly  when  they  know  them  to  be  strong 
and  their  own  support  weak. 

As  Captain  Warren  stationed  his  men  he  said  to 
Robert,  who  was  in  charge  of  one  of  the  posts : 

"  Sergeant,  you  are  about  to  have  your  wish.  If  1 
am  not  mistaken  you  are  on  the  scene  of  your  first 
battle." 

*'Yes,  and  perhaps  his  last,"  said  Gaines,  in  a 
tremulous  voice. 

"  T  have  prayed  for  this  day,  Captain,"  said  Robert, 
"  and  if  we  fail  it  will  not  be  my  fault." 

While  he  spoke  his  lips  grew  firmer,  and  an  ashy 
pallor  came  over  his  face.  It  was  evident  he  was 
controlling  some  strong  feeling,  no  doubt  fear,  but  he 
did  control  it,  and  turned  his  face  toward  the  camp 
of  the  foe. 

During  the  afternoon  and  night  there  was  no  firing, 
but  the  cold  weather,  the  miserable  roads,  and  the 
proximity  of  the  enemy  were  more  trying  than  an 
actual  fight.  On  the  following  morning  General 
Thomas  came  up  with  five  regiments  and  ordered  the 
cavalry  to  push  beyond  Logan's  Cross  Roads,  in  the 
direction  of  Mill  Springs.  They  had  advanced  but  a 
short  distance  when  the  line  was  halted  and  a  skirm- 
ish line  formed.  Robert  at  first  thought  it  an  un- 
necessary precaution  of  his  captain,  but  he  had  hardly 
dismounted  and  advanced  to  position  before  he  saw 
a   long,    thin  line  of  gray  advancing  fi'om  the  woods 


160  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

in  the  direction  of  Fishing  Creek.  The  enemy  came 
up  within  four  hundred  yards,  and  as  they  approached 
Kobert  Warren  felt  a  lump  rising  in  his  throat,  and  a 
cold  perspiration  stood  in  great  beads  on  his  fore- 
head. He  tried  to  keep  cool,  but  the  hand  that  held 
his  carbine  trembled,  and  his  teeth  chattered  as  he 
bit  the  cartridge.  He  looked  to  his  left,  and  there 
stood  Gaines,  with  an  expression  of  age  on  his  face, 
and  beyond  him  little  Ned,  evidently  cooler  and 
happier  than  any  man  in  the  line.  The  skirmish  line 
of  the  enemy  halted,  and  little  puffs  of  smoke  were 
seen  to  come  from  their  pieces,  followed  by  the  shai*p 
whistle  of  the  balls  and  the  subsequent  report  of 
the  arms.  The  sound  took  a  load  from  Robert  War- 
ren's heart,  and  his  nerves  grew  steadier,  but  as  he 
raised  his  carbine  to  fire  he  could  not  draw  a  bead, 
and  a  haze  seemed  to  surround  his  weapon.  He  had 
often  shot  a  deer,  off  hand,  at  five  hundred  yards, 
and  it  was  not  considered  by  him  a  wonderful  ex- 
ploit. Now  he  fired  at  a  mark  equally  good,  and 
recovered  his  carbine  to  watch  the  result,  but  there 
stood  the  rebel  skirmisher  coolly  loading  his  gun, 
and  evidently  unaware  of  the  desperate  attempt  on 
his  life.  This  harmless  firing  continued  for  some 
time,  and  there  was  an  evident  desire  on  both  sides 
to  get  closer  together.  The  enemy  advanced  a  hun- 
dred yards  to  a  scrubby  fence,  and  their  deliberate 
firing  soon  told — one  of  Warren's  men  fell  shot 
through  the  head.  The  enemy  were  dislodged  by  a 
flank  movement  of  a  company  of  the  Tenth  Indiana, 
and  then  a  common  feeling  of  humanity  and  curiosity 
drew  the  cavalry  around  their  dead  comrade,  the 
first  man  they  had  seen  killed  in  battle.     They  leaned 


«» WA?.  A  TERRIBLE  THING."  161 

or.  their  arms,  officers  and  men,  and,  with  pale  faces, 
watched  the  little  stream  of  blood  trickling  from  the 
soldier's  forehead.     Even  the  cool  Captain  Warren 
looked   agitated,    and  joined   in   the   expressions  of 
regret.       This   unmilitary   proceeding   was    speedily 
ended   by   the    enemy's   firing  on  the  group,  and  the 
old   positions   were  taken.     The  enemy,  under  cover 
of  an    old   log   barn,    got   still   nearer  to  the  Union 
skirmish   line,    and   two  men  were  wounded,  and  be- 
came objects  of  curiosity  and  wonder  to  their  comrades 
in  reserve.     Captain  Warren  saw  the  enemy's  advan- 
tage,   and   sent   Lieutenant  Tucker  with  twenty  men 
to   dislodge    them.     The   lieutenant  made  a  detour, 
and,   taking   advantage    of  a   ravine,    he  struck  the 
enemy   in   the  log-building  unexpectedly,  and  drove 
them  out  pell-mell.     Tucker's  men  cheered   lustily, 
and  were  evidently  delighted  over  something  besides 
taking  the   bam.     The   whole  line  advanced,  but  it 
did  not  retain  much  order  after  nearing  the  building, 
for  Tucker's  men  hailed  them  with  the  cry  of  "  Two 
dead  rebels  !  two  dead  rebels  ! "     The  men  went  over 
the  fence  in  great  glee,  and  v;ithout  order,  to  see  this 
wonderful  sight.     Sure  enough,  there,  in  front  of  the 
building,  lay  two  men  in  gray,  one  dead  and  the  other 
faintly   trying   to   swallow   the   water  which  one  of 
Tucker's   men   held  to  his  lips,  but  his  efforts  ceased 
in  a  few  seconds,  and  with  a  sigh  he  fell  back  dead. 
As  they  clustered  around  their  dead  enemies,  there 
were   no   expressions  of  delight ;   wonder  and  sorrow 
seemed  depicted  on  every  face  ;  and  G-aines,  who  had 
placed   his   hand   over  the  heart  of  one  of  the  men, 
expressed  the  feelings  of  his  comrades  when  lie  said, 
"  War  is  a  terrible  thing." 

14* 


162  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Captain  Warren  soon  saw  that  it  would  not  do  to 
let  his  men  run  along  the  line  every  time  a  comrade 
was  killed,  or  gather  in  groups  to  see  a  fallen  enemy, 
so  he  again  formed  his  line,  but  only  to  fall  back 
before  the  rebels,  who  now  advanced  with  the  confi- 
dence of  superior  numbers. 

The  Union  picket  line  was  forced  back  towards 
Logan's  Cross  Roads,  till  dark,  though  there  was  no 
more  fighting  that  day.  As  Robert  Warren  lay  in  his 
tent  that  night  he  could  not  sleep,  but  tossed  nervously 
about  on  his  blanket,  and  when  he  dozed  he  would 
see  before  him  the  dead  comrade  with  the  blood 
oozing  from  his  forehead,  and  the  men  in  grey  lying 
dead  with  their  glazed  eyes  looking  up  at  him. 

As  he  tried  to  change  the  current  of  his  thoughts 
by  thinking  on  other  subjects,  the  fly  of  his  tent  was 
raised  and  Archy  crawled  in  on  hands  and  knees. 

"  Is  that  you  Archy  ?  W^hy  are  you  not  asleep  ?" 
tsked  Robert,  as  he  sat  up  on  his  blanket  and  pulled 
his  overcoat,  which  answered  for  a  pillow,  with  his 
boots,  under  his  arm  to  support  him. 

•♦  Mauss  Robut,  I  didn't  want  to  'sturb  yeh,"  began 
Archy,  "  but  I've  suthin'  ter  say." 

**  Well,  Archy,  out  with  it,"  said  Robert,  seeing  that 
Archy  hesitated. 

"  I'se  just  come  up  frum  de  kernel's,  whar  I  wuz 
talkin'  wid  his  boy  Jake,  and  I  heard  'era  say  dat 
dare'd  be  an  awful  fight  to-morrow,"  said  Archy  in  an 
amazed  voice. 

"What?"  asked  Robert  with  a  laugh,  "did  Jake 
say  that,  or  the  colonel?" 

"No,  marse,  de  kernel.  Him  an'  a  lot  more  officers 
wuz  at  the  fire,  an  clar  to  Heaven,  I  felt  my  bar  rlsin* 


"  'BACKEH  'LL  DO  IT."  163 

when  dey  spoke  about  de  fight,  and  de  lots  ob  dead, 
and  de  bullances  fur  de  wounded,  an  de  fearful  times. 
I  wish  sartin  we  was  back  at  Jeff'sonville  agin." 
Archy  said  this  sentence  as  if  he  meant  it. 

Kobert  tried  to  console  him,  but  made  the  matter 
worse  by  saying  *' you  need  not  feel  frightened, 
Archy,  you  will  be  away  to  the  rear,  where  there  is 
no  danger." 

' '  Mauss  Robut,  I  ain't  skerry.  Reckon  yeh  knows 
dat,  but  Pse  frighten'  sartin  'bout  yeh;  I'se  been  a 
prayin'  as  I  come  bar  yeh'd  be  right  smart  sick  afore 
mornin'— backer'll  do  't,  I  heard  a  man  say  so  in  the 

company." 

As  Archy  concluded  his  queer  suggestion,  Robert 
laughed  so  as  to  waken  Gaines,  whose  snormg  had 
hitherto  shown  that  he  was  asleep. 

"  Why,  what's  the  matter?"  asked  Gaines  in  surprise, 
as  he  sat  up,  rubbing  his  eyes  and  yawning,  and 
Robert,  despite  Archy' s  "  please  mauss,  don' t,"  related 
the  merit  of  tobacco  as  a  producer  of  sickness,  and 
Archy's  suggestion  about  using  it. 

"That's  a  very  praiseworthy  idea,  Archy,"  said 
Gaines  laughing,  "but  if  every  man  uses  it  who  is 
scary,  this  army  will  be  the  sickest  lot  of  men  on 
top  of  the  earth  to-morrow,  if  there  is  tobacco  enough 
to  go  around," 

-Well,  'pears  dar's  no  use  in  talkin',"  said  Archy, 
rising  to  go,  "  seems  yell's  both  boun'  fur  ruin.  Wid  de 
help^'ob  de  Lor',  I'U  pray  to-night,  and  I'll  beg  at  de 
Trone  when  yeh's  in  de  battle.  Good  night,  Mauss 
Robut  and  Mauss  Andy."  And  Archy  stole  out, 
followed  by  the  good-night  of  his  friends. 

How  soundly  soldiers  usually  sleep  after  the  long 


164  T\^ARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

march  or  agitating  picket,  and  how  utterly  wretched  the 
feeling  is  when  before  day  on  a  cold  winter  moniing 
the  rat-tat-tat  of  the  "  long  roll,"  with  its  increasing 
velocity  of  sound  from  a  score  pf  dnmis,  startles  the 
sleepers,  and  the  bugle  call  of  "  boots  and  saddles" 
awakens  the  weary  riders.  Old  troops  never  hear  it 
without  a  curse,  and  to  new  troops  the  unsuspected 
*'  long-roll"  sounds  like  a  death-knell. 

On  the  early  morning  of  the  19th  the  alarm  call 
rung  through  the  camp  at  Logan's  Cross  Roads,  and 
the  excited,  half-rested  little  army  hurried  into  stiff 
boots  and  wrinkled  clothes,  and,  seizing  their  wea- 
pons, stood  ready  for  action.  Captain  Warren's 
company  was  retained  with  General  Thomas,  and  the 
battalion  of  the  First  hurried  to  the  support  of  the 
videttes  at  a  gallop.  News  came  in  that  the  enemy 
was  advancing  in  force.  Quick  as  thought  the  tents 
were  struck  and  loaded,  and  the  wagons  sent  to  the 
rear.  Through  the  thoughtfulness  of  the  officers, 
coffee  had  been  prepared  for  the  men,  and,  after  the 
camp  was  cleared,  they  gathered  in  groups  about  the 
fire  and  swallowed  the  thick,  refreshing  beverage 
from  their  tin  cups  and  ate  with  a  relish  their  dry 
hard-tack.  It  is  well  to  pray,  but  bad  to  fight  on  an 
empty  stomach. 

Before  six  o'clock,  and  still  dark,  the  advanced 
cavalry  were  struck  and  fell  back  before  the  enemy. 
The  Tenth  Indiana  and  Fourth  Kentucky  pushed  on 
rapidly  to  support  them,  and  General  Thomas,  giving 
directions  to  the  Tennesseeans  under  Carter,  and 
McCook  of  the  Ninth  Ohio,  rode  with  his  staff  at  a 
gallop  to  the  front.  Captain  Warren's  company  had 
not  been  moved,  and  his  men  stood  by  their  horses 


THE  BATTLE  ON  ONCE  MORE.  65 

nervously  listening  to  the  battle,  and  roll,  and  shout, 
from  the  front.  Just  as  Van  Cleve's  Second  Minne- 
sota passed  Warren's  company,  an  aid  galloped  up 
and  ordered  him  to  advance  and  take  a  position  on 
the  left  of  Kinney's  battery,  which  was  stationed  in  a 
corn-field  towards  the  left  of  the  line.  This  order 
was  hailed  with  a  shout,  and  Captain  Warren  reached 
his  position  and  dismounted  his  men  in  time  to  see  a 
grey  column  dashing  across  the  field  against  Fry's 
Kentuckians.  Kinney  opened  fire  as  the  enemy  came 
parallel  to  his  guns,  and  they  fell  back  in  disorder. 
Then  began  a  tempest  of  fire  from  the  rebel  lines, 
accompanied  by  shrill  yells.  Carter  took  position  in 
the  rear  of  Kinney,  and  for  one  hour  the  two  lines, 
within  musket  range,  poured  in  terrific  volleys  of  mus- 
ketry, while  the  artillery  tore  great  gaps  in  the 
opposing  columns.  Under  Carter's  fire  the  enemy 
began  to  give  way.  Then  a  deafening  cheer  was 
heard  to  the  right  of  Carter's  brigade,  and  Major 
Kammerling,  at  the  head  of  the  Ninth  Ohio  with 
fixed  bayonets,  rushed  upon  the  confused  rebels  and 
swept  them  from  that  portion  of  the  field.  As  Eobert 
saw  the  gallant  Ohioans  dashing  across  the  field,  all 
his  impulses  were  to  mount  and  join  in,  but  he  had  to 
await  orders.  The  enemy  rallied  in  irregular  masses. 
and  for  about  twenty  minutes  concentrated  a  fire  of 
musketry  and  artillery  on  the  troops  immediately  in 
front.  The  ammunition  ran  short  in  several  regiments 
on  the  Union  right,  but  they  stood  exposed  like  vet- 
erans till  served,  and  then  the  order  came  from  G-en- 
eral  Thomas  for  the  whole  line  to  advance,  and  a 
cheer  that  made  the  heart  leap  came  in  response. 
Into  the  saddle  leaped  the  cavalry.     Kobert  had  time 


166  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

to  lo  k  to  the  left,  when  the  Fourth  Kentucky  seemed 
cona;jletely  mixed  up  with  the  enemy  on  the  road. 
Directly  in  front  of  Captain  Warren  the  Twentieth 
Tennessee  rebel  was  falling  back  in  confusion,  and  the 
order  was  given  to  charge  them.  Quick  as  a  flash, 
the  sabers  were  drawn,  and  the  horses  with  swift 
bounds  rushed  upon  the  enemy.  There  was  no  order 
In  the  line,  but  it  dashed,  an  irregular,  iiTCsistible,  mass 
upon  the  demoralized  foe.  Robert  felt  as  if  his  veins 
were  on  fire,  as  he  heard  the  cheers  of  the  men  around 
and  saw  on  every  side  the  shattered  enemy  reeling, 
bl^«eJing,  and  flying — turning  at  times  to  discharge 
their  pieces  in  their  flight.  That  feeling  was  vrorth  a 
life  time  of  pain.  A  number  of  prisoners  were  sent 
to  the  rear,  and  Captain  Warren  was  still  pushing  after 
the  Tennesseans,  when  he  was  halted  by  an  aid  and 
ordered  to  the  Somerset  road.  He  fell  back,  exposed 
to  a  fire  from  the  rebel  artillery,  and  on  gaining  the 
road  he  learned  that  General  ZollicofFer  was  lying 
dead  in  front  of  the  Fourth  Kentucky,  where  Colonel 
Speed  S.  Fry  had  encountered  and  shot  him.  There 
was  but  little  fighting  after  this.  The  rebels  fled, 
throwing  away  their  arms  and  covering  the  road  with 
piles  of  useless  baggage,  which  old  soldiers  never 
carry.  The  wounded  lay  in  the  fence  corners  by 
scores,  and  the  dead  were  scattered  along  the  roads 
and  in  the  woods.  This  indeed  was  a  battle  and  a 
victory,  and  as  the  horsemen  pushed  towards  the  Cum- 
berland, picking  up  stragglers  and  removing  obstruc- 
tions from  the  path  of  the  pursuing  army,  Eobert 
felt  that  the  flag  was  approaching  the  Brazos. 

The  retreat  of  the  shattered  rebel  army  into  Tennes- 
Bee  under  Crittenden  has  become  a  matter  of  history, 


THE  VICTORY  OF  MILL  SPRINGS.  167 

and  small  as  was  the  battle  of  Mill  Springs  compared 
with  subsequent  engagements,  it  will  still  stand  promi- 
nent as  the  initial  victory  of  the  war.  It  solved  the  prob- 
lem of  sectional  valor  and  falsified  the  southern  boast 
of  superiority.  Four  regiments,  the  Tenth  Indiana, 
Fourth  Kentucky,  Second  Minnesota,  and  Ninth  Ohio, 
bore  the  bmnt  of  the  battle,  and  by  their  persistent 
valor  routed  an  army  of  twelve  thousand  men,  who 
the  day  before  the  contest  deemed  themselves  a  match 
for  forty  thousand  *' Yankee  hirelings." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


THE    SITUATION    AFTER    THE    BATTLE. 

After  the  defeat  of  the  enemy  at  Mill  Springs,  or 
Somerset,  or  Logan's  Cross  Road — for  the  fight  is 
known  by  all  those  names  in  the  North,  and  as  Fishing 
Creek  in  the  South — all  southeastern  Kentucky  was 
evacuated  by  the  Confederates.  It  is  said  that 
Huniphrey  Marshall  had  a  force  near  Cumberland 
Gap,  but  as  that  Quixotic  individual  was  too  fat  to 
ride  on  horseback  and  too  unwieldy  to  march  on  foot, 
he  was  forced  to  retreat  in  a  buggy  into  Tennessee 
before  GarfiekFs  Ohioans. 

Buell  and  Grant,  in  the  western  part  of  the  State, 
were  busy  to  improve  the  advantage  gained  by  Gen- 
eral Thomas.  Grant  was  coming  up  the  Ohio  from 
Cairo,  and  proposed  to  ascend  the  Tennessee  and  Cum- 
berland rivers  with  his  forces  and  Foote's  gunboats. 
Mitchell  was  pushed  out  toward  Bowling  Green,  and 
evidences  of  an  active  campaign  were  seen  on  every 
hand. 

A  few  days  after  the  fighting  at  Mill  Spring,  Ser- 
{^eant  Robert  Warren  was  somewhat  astonished  by  an 
orderly's  informing  him  that  General  Thomas  wished 
to  see  him  at  his  headquarters.  Robert  spent  a  few 
minutes  attiring  himself  in  a  soldierly  way,  and  re- 
ported to  General  Thomas,  whose  headquarters  were 
in  a  house  near  by.     He  was  admitted  at  once  and 


WARREN  AT  HEADQUARTERS.  169 

found  the  commanding  officer  and  General  Sclioepf 
busy  looking  over  a  map.  General  Thomas  returned 
Robert's  salute,  and  then  said  : 

"  I  understand,  sergeant,  you  are  from  Texas,  and 
familiar  with  the  South  and  its  people." 

The  general  waited  for  a  reply,  and  Robert  answered, 
•*  I  am,  sir." 

"  I  learn  also,"  continued  the  general,  looking  up 
from  his  map,  "that  you  made  several  very  success- 
ful reconnoisances  toward  the  enemy's  lines,  and  even 
inside  of  them  last  summer." 

*'  I  acted  on  detached  service  for  a  while,  sir,  and  I 
thmk  the  information  I  obtained  was  reliable,"  said 
Robert,  looking  at  the  general,  whose  eyes  were  bent 
on  the  map. 

"  Sergeant,  what  educational  advantages  have  you 
had,  what  is  your  profession,  and  what  were  you  en- 
gaged in  before  the  war?" 

Robert  briefly  related  his  business,  giving  a  short 
sketch  of  his  leaving  Texas,  and  concluded :  "  I  studied 
engineering,  particularly,  when  at  college,  in  the  hope 
of  being  able  to  make  the  profession  useful  in  Texas." 

"  You  are  just  the  man  General  Buell  wants,  and 
about  whom  he  has  written."  The  general  hesitated 
a  moment,  and  looked  down  at  his  map  ;  then  glancing 
quickly  up,  he  continued  :  "  Sergeant,  it  should  be  the 
desire  of  every  good  man  to  aid  our  cause  by  every 
means  in  his  power." 

•'  Yes,  sir ;  by  every  honorable  means,"  said  Robert. 

**  Exactly,"  said  the  general  with  emphasis.    "  Now, 
you  must  know — at  least  I  do — that  you  can  be  im- 
mediately of  more  service  to  the  country  in  another 
position  than  that  of  carrying  a  saber  in  the  ranks.'* 
15 


170  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"  I  don't  understand  you,  sir.  I  prefer  to  be  a  pri- 
vate." 

"And  there  is  no  more  honorable  position  than  a 
private's,"  said  the  general,  getting  up  from  his  chair. 

"  But  I  desire  you  to  aid  us,  sergeant,  by  becoming 
attached  to  our  present  very  imperfect  secret  service." 

**Do  you  mean  as  a  spy,  sir?"  asked  Robert,  color- 
ing to  his  temples. 

"  Sergeant,  many  give  the  members  of  the  service 
that  name,  but  in  military  matters  we  are  all  spies  ; 
our  object  is  to  learn  all  about  the  enemy  and  cover 
our  own  acts.  Every  means  taken  to  do  so,  if  success- 
ful, is  legitimate.  I  can  say  that  I  would  not  hesitate 
to  enter  the  enemy's  lines,  feeling  sure  a  great  advan- 
tage, and  a  consequent  saving  of  life,  could  be  gained 
by  it.  Now,  sergeant,  are  you  willing,  knowing  the 
dangers,  to  take  a  risk  for  the  sake  of  our  cause  ?" 

Robert  toyed  nervously  with  the  tassel  of  his  sword- 
knot,  his  eyes  cast  on  the  ground.  All  were  silent 
for  nearly  a  minute  ;  then  he  looked  full  at  the  gen- 
eral, and  answered  :  "  I  am." 

*'  That  is  good.  Report  here  for  orders  in  one 
hour." 

Robert  hastened  to  Captain  Warren's  tent  and 
related  to  him  his  interview  with  General  Thomas, 
and  his  decision  to  obey  his  request,  for  no  officer 
could  command  an  enlisted  man  to  do  such  service. 

**  You  are  going  on  a  dangerous  mission,  cousin 
Robert,"  said  the  captain,  "but  I  feel  you  can  do  our 
cause  great  good.  I  will,  no  doubt,  see  you  soon,  as 
it  is  reported  we  are  going  to  join  General  Buell. 
You  must  write  me,  however,  by  every  opportunity. 
Now,  cousin,  sorry  as  I  am  to  part  with  you,  I  will 


IN  THE  SECRET  SERVICE.  171 

help  to  get  you  off.'*  Stepping  to  the  door,  he  called, 
"Archy,  come  here,  your  master  wants  to  see  you." 

Archy  came  in,  his  sleeves  rolled  up,  and  his  black 
face  shining  from  exposure  to  the  camp-fire,  where  he 
had  been  cooking. 

"Archy,  I  am  going  away  for  some  time,  and  I  am 
sorry  that  I  cannot  have  you  with  me.  At  least,  not 
at  present.  You  must  take  good  care  of  the  captain 
and  of  your  horse  till  I  get  back,"  said  Robert,  look- 
ing up  kindly  at  the  faithful  fellow. 

"  Mauss  Eobut,  I'd  radder  go,  sartin.  Mauss  Allen 
has  heaps  o'  men  to  kar  fur  him,  an  ye  h've  none  but 
me.  I  does  n't  want  to  part  wid  yeh,  Mauss  Robut." 
Archy  was  evidently  agitated,  and  the  cousins  tried 
to  console  him  with  the  hope  that  he  would  soon  see 
Robert  again,  and  that  his  stay  would  be  very  short. 
The  captain  promised,  in  addition,  to  read  him  every 
letter  his  master  wrote. 

Archy  said  but  little  in  reply.  At  the  request  of 
his  master,  Don  was  speedily  saddled,  and  the  few 
articles  of  clothing  necessary  for  the  journey  folded 
in  the  saddle-bags. 

A  few  minutes  before  the  time  to  report  to  General 
Thomas,  Robert  bade  his  friends  good-bye,  and  mount- 
ing Don,  who  looked  fit  for  the  commander  of  all 
the  armies  to  bestride,  he  rode  to  the  headquarters. 
As  Robert  entered,  the  general  looked  up  with  a 
pleased  expression,  and  handed  him  a  letter  to  Gen- 
eral Buell.  Then,  giving  him  instructions  as  to  trans- 
portation and  transit  papers,  the  general  shook  his 
hand,  and  Robert  Warren  passed  out  of  the  tent. 

His  transportation,  as  he  desired,  enabled  him  to 
take  his  horse.     A  two  days'  ride  took  him  to  Nicholas 


i/t  WARREN    OF  TEXAS. 

villw»  '4  11(1  ill  seven  hours  lie  was  in  Louisville,  where 
he  rt.^-'')rted  to  General  Buell.  Here  Robert  under- 
went unothcr  examination,  and  was  somewhat  sur- 
prised when  General  Buell  told  him  he  must  report  at 
once  to  General  Grant,  then  at  Paducah.  Steamboat 
transp^jrtation  was  provided  to  Paducah,  with  a  letter 
in  cipher  to  General  Grant.  Before  twenty-five  hours, 
Robert  was  at  Grant's  headquarters,  awaiting  further 
instructions.  General  Grant  read  his  letters  from 
Thomas  and  Buell,  and  taking  a  keen  survey  of  Robert, 
he  seeb-ied  satisfied. 

"An*  you  acquainted  with  the  Eighth  Texas  Cav- 
alry ?— Rangers,  I  think  they  call  themselves,"  asked 
the  geh.eral. 

"  Yes,  sir ;  they  are  commanded  by  Colonel  Terry, 
of  Ricfimond,  Texas." 

"Exactly." 

Robert  continued :  "  I  am  familiar  with  every  foot 
of  ground  where  the  regiment  was  raised,  and  know 
many  of  the  men." 

*'An  acquaintance  with  the  individuals  is  no  advan- 
tage," said  the  general.  Then  waiting  a  moment,  he 
asked,  **Do  you  know  General  Buckner,  or  Floyd, 
or  Hanson." 

"No,  sir." 

"  I  am  glad  you  don't.  Yesterday  some  of  my 
Bcouts  captured  a  mail  intended  for  General  Buckner 
and  his  Kentuckians  at  Fort  Donelson.  The  mail 
carrier  is  here,  safe.  His  name  is  Turner.  You  can 
take  the  mail  in  his  place." 

The  general  looked  up  quickly  at  Robert,  and 
evinced  no  disappointment  at  the  pallor  which  over- 
spread his  face. 


CARRYING  THE  REBEL  MAIL.  173 

"With  your  instructions,  sir,  I  will  try,"  said  Rob- 
ert, a  perceptible  tremor  in  his  voice. 

"Very  well.  Now  get  rested,  and  I  will  prepare 
your  instructions.  Read  and  burn  them  after  you 
have  read  them.  Be  guided  in  the  details  by  your 
own  good  sense."  The  general  called  Lieutenant 
Owen,  who  took  charge  of  Robert,  providing  him  with 
quarters  and  refreshments,  Robert  had  a  rest  for  five 
or  six  hours,  when  Lieutenant  Owen  brought  him  his 
instructions.  They  were  to  enter  Fort  Donelson 
with  the  mail  and  ascertain  the  strength  of  Pillow's 
command ;  the  location  and  strength  of  the  batteries, 
and  every  other  fact  that  might  be  of  importance. 
He  was  to  return  along  the  river  till  he  met  General 
Grant,  and  communicate  what  he  knew.  He  was 
provided  with  money  and  an  exact  copy  of  Turner's 
safeguard,  excepting  the  name. 

Just  as  it  was  growing  dark,  Robert  was  in  the  sad- 
dle and  his  horse's  head  turned  South.  He  had 
doubts  about  taking  Don,  but  knowing  he  could  rely 
on  him  if  speed  and  bottom  were  necessary,  he  pre- 
ferred him  to  the  horse  Lieutenant  Owen  desired  him 
to  ride. 

From  Paducah  he  pushed  on  to  Clear  Springs. 
There,  crossing  the  Cumberland  by  a  ferry,  he  found 
himself  at  daylight  outside  the  Union  lines,  and  in 
the  scouting  grounds  of  the  dreaded  Texan  Rangers. 
He  stopped  at  a  double-log  shanty  on  the  bank, 
surrounded  by  little  log  corn-cribs,  stables,  and  hen- 
house, and  log  fences  inclosed  the  stump-covered 
fields  about  the  place.  His  nose,  if  not  his  eyes, 
could  detect  the  vicinity  of  loggy  pigs  in  the  square 
log  pen  near  the  house,  outside  of  which  was  a  shallow, 
15* 


174  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

green  pool,  where  a  number  of  ducks  were  deludinjj 
themselves  by  going  through  the  motions  of  a  wash,  or 
standing  on  their  short  legs  and  making  comical  e'ftorts 
at  diving.  A  wagon  vrith  dirty  red  wheels  stood  before 
the  door,  and  the  wheels  answered  as  pegs  for  the 
rusty,  broken  harness  that  trailed  to  the  ground.  A 
harrow,  with  several  teeth  out,  leaned  against  the 
trough,  which  was  partially  filled  with  brownish  water 
from  the  clap-boarded  roof  of  the  shanty  ;  and  where 
the  water  trickled  from  the  trough  three  children, 
very  dirty  and  apparently  of  one  age  and  sex,  sat 
about  the  pool,  earnestly  instructing  each  other  in 
the  manufacture  of  that  article  which  Ir^  aginative 
children  delight  to  form,  when  privileged  to  do  as 
they  please  on  the  gi'ound — mud  pies. 

As  Robert  dismounted  before  the  door,  a  tall,  raw- 
boned  man,  with  a  round  fur  cap,  bald  in  front,  and  a 
shirt  open  at  the  throat  and  rolled  up  at  the  sleeves, 
displaying  his  freckled  arms  covered  with  reddish 
hair,  greeted  him  with,  "  Hello,  stranger  I  " 

"Good  morning,  sir,"  said  Ilobert.  "Can  I  have 
my  horse  fed  here,  and  get  some  breakfast  for  my- 
self?" 

The  proprietor,  for  such  he  proved  to  be,  stroked 
his  red  beard,  squirted  a  red  stream  from  his  mouth, 
and  leaning  on  the  red  wagon-wheel  with  one  of  his 
muddy  boots  raised  on  the  spoke,  said  : 

"Stranger,  we've  done  a  right  smart  of  feedin'  of 
folks  of  late.  I'm  willin*  to  keer  fm*  yeh,  reckonin'  as 
how  yer  right,  but  I  don't  know  'bout  Moll." 

"  I  am  willing  to  pay  you  liberally,  sir,  for  any 
accommodations,"  said  Eobert,  dismounting. 

The   long  man,  with  a  mysterious  air,  motioned 


MOLL,  THE  "SNORTER."  175 

Robert  to  follow  him,  and  getting  to  windward  of  the 
pig-pen,  he  turned,  and  in  a  hoarse,  mysterious  whisper, 
said : 

"  Stranger,  I  reckon  yer  one  of  'em?'* 
Kobert  assured  him  that  he  was,  though  he  did  not 
clearly  comprehend  who  the  others  were. 

"Wall,  I  knowed  yeh  wuz  one  of  'em,"  said  the 
long  man,  "  coz  they's  bin  round  har  right  sharp  of 
late.     But,  stranger,  Moll  hates  'em  like  hell." 

Robert  assured  him  that  he  regretted  this  feeling 
on  the  part  of  Moll,  and  intimated  that  a  liberal  pay- 
ment for  anything  they  did  for  him  might  pour  oil  on 
the  disturbed  waters  of  Moll's  temper. 

"No,  stranger,  you  don't  know  Moll  as  I  do  who've 
lived  with  her  nigh  onto  ten  year,"  said  the  long 
man  in  a  still  lower  whisper. 

Robert  lowered  his  voice  and  artlessly  said,  "  That's 
true,"  which  statement  he  might  freely  make,  as  he 
had  never  set  his  eyes  on  the  terrible  Moll,  and  but 
imperfectly  understood  her  relations  to  the  long  man. 

"  Yer  right  thar,  stranger,"  sa*a  the  long  man,  as 
if  Robert  had  delivered  a  lengthy  opinion  on  Moll's 
character  after  years  of  close  study. 

"But,"  he  continued,  "why  are  yeh  har  'lone? 
You.  fels  don't  often  go  'lone  ?  " 

Robert  did  not  appear  to  heed  the  question,  but 
asked,  m  a  hurried  whisper  : 

"  When  were  any  others  here  before,  and  which  waj 
did  they  go  ?  " 

"  Yisterday,  stranger.  That's  why  Moll's  so  riled 
this  momin'.  I  think  they  said  they  wuz  goin'  down 
toward  Bowlin'  Green  soon,  but  yeh  knows  more  about 
that  than  me.*' 


17e  WAEREN  OF  TEXA.S. 

Robert  said,  "To  be  sure,"  though  he  wished  in  his 
soul  he  could  say  so  in  fact.  Of  one  thing,  however, 
he  was  satisfied,  namely,  that  the  long  man  w^as  a 
rebel  in  his  sympathies,  and  that  by  his  allusions  to 
"them"  he  meant  scouting  parties  from  the  southern 
army.  He  told  him  without  reserve  that  he  was 
going  to  Fort  Donelson,  and  that  he  had  a  mail  for 
General  Buckner  and  his  men  from  their  friends 
inside  the  Yankee  lines.  He  informed  the  long  man 
that  he  was  not  acquainted  with  the  country  to  the 
South,  and  that  after  he  and  his  horse  had  been  rested, 
he  would  pay  the  long  man  to  place  him  on  the  right 
road,  adding  in  a  tone  of  great  confidence,  as  he  laid 
his  hand  on  the  red,  hairy  arm  of  his  listener  : 

"I  must  get  to  Donelson  by  to-morrow  night,  and 
it  w^ould  n't  do  to  tell  everybody  my  business.  It  is  so 
hard  to  trust  men  now." 

"Cussed  efyeh  ain't  right,"  said  the  long  man, 
spitting  with  emphasis  through  the  logs  of  the  pig- 
pen, to  the  evident  disgust  of  the  porker  into  whose 
eye  the  discharge  went.  "  Cussed  ef  yeh  ain't  right. 
Now  there's  Moll,  stranger,  don't  trus'  Moll  if  yeh 
valley  quiet.     Moll's  a  snorter." 

Robert  promised  not  to  place  implicit  reliance  in 
Moll,  nor  take  the  adder-like  "snorter"  to  his  bosom, 
which  statement  satisfied  the  long  man,  for  he  imme- 
diately led  the  way  to  the  log,  earth-floored  cabin, 
called  a  stable,  and  while  Robert  unsaddled  the  gal^ 
lant  Don,  the  long  man  filled  the  rack  with  fodder 
and  the  little  log  trough  in  front  of  it  with  com. 
This  done,  the  long  man  said  to  Robert : 

"  Reckon,  stranger,  yer  right  smart  hungry.  I'll 
go  and  bust  it  to  Moll.    Lay  low." 


A  FAMILY  SET-TO.  177 

This  advice  to  "lay  low"  Robert  promised  to  follow 
by  remaining  in  the  stable,  while  the  long  man  walked 
out  with  a  brisk  air  of  confidence,  which  he  lost  as  he 
approached  the  double-log  shanty,  for  his  motion  was 
hesitating,  and  before  entering  he  tried  to  whistle  as 
he  adjusted  the  ragged  harness  on  the  red  wagon 
wheel,  and  cast  troubled  looks  at  the  log  stable  and 
the  cabin.  He  entered,  and  Robert  heard  a  loud  and 
excited  female  voice  in  the  double-log  cabin,  and  the 
long  man's  voice  two  octaves  lower,  trying  to  soothe 
his  angered  wife,  for  such  Robert  thought  must  be  her 
relation  to  the  long  man,  as  only  a  wife  could  address 
him  in  the  familiar  manner  of  the  loud-voiced  female. 
He  heard  the  long  man  say  "money"  and  the  snorter 
"bosh"  and  "yer  a  darned  lunkhead."  After  an 
exchange  of  these  loving  epithets  for  some  time,  the 
woman's  voice  lowered  perceptibly,  and  the  long  man, 
looking  very  red  in  the  face,  and  chewing  tobacco 
with  a  wonderful  energy,  emerged  from  the  shanty 
and  went  to  the  stable.  He  greeted  Robert  with  a 
hoarse  and  excited  whisper : 

"I  fotched  Moll,  stranger.  She's  knuckled  right 
under." 

Robert  said  "I'm  glad  to  hear  it,"  and  intimated 
that  he  would  be  glad  to  learn  how  this  much-desired 
result  was  produced. 

"Wall,"  said  the  long  man,  "I  tole  her  I'd  be 

d — d" Here  he  was  interrupted  by  a  call  from 

Moll,  but  seeing  he  had  stopped  his  sentence  at  a  point 
which  might  leave  an  erroneous  impression  on  the 
mind  of  his  listener,  he  finished  his  sentence  as  he 

walked  to  the  door :     "  ef  I  would  n'  t  join  the  Tex- 

ans.     And  what  do  yeh  'spose  Moll  said,  stranger?'* 


78  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Robert  gave  up  the  conundrum  at  once. 

-  Wall,  she  said  I'd  be  d— d  ef  I  did.  But  that 
fetched  Moll.  When  she  gets  on  her  high  horse  I've 
got  the  dead  wood  on  her  an'  swear  I'll  join  the 
Texans." 

As  the  long  man  showed  his  fur  cap  at  the  stable 
door,  the  snorter  called  to  him  in  a  loud  voice  to 
*'  hurry  up  his  stumps  and  bring  along  the  stranger." 

Robert  intimated  as  he  approached  the  house  that  it 
would  be  very  agreeable  to  wash,  a  sentiment  the  long 
man  did  not  seem  to  appreciate,  for  he  answered,  "  Jes' 
as  you  say,  stranger,"  and  forthwith  produced  a  rusty 
tin  wash-basin,  with  a  thick,  stubby  handle  on  one 
side.  He  filled  it  with  water  from  the  trough  and 
placed  it  on  a  square- topped  stump,  near  the  mud-pie 
factory  of  the  little  snorters. 

Robert  informed  the  long  man,  as  he  looked  at  his 
hands,  that  soap  was  desirable ;  when  the  long  man 
said,  ** Moll  is  death  on  soap,"  and  hurried  into  the 
shanty,  from  which  he  soon  emerged  with  a  dirty 
saucer  half  filled  with  a  sort  of  bro^vn  molasses,  or 
gangrened  jelly,  for  it  smelled  very  loud,  and  glis- 
tened on  the  surface  mth  sickly-looking,  prismatic 
colors.  The  long  man  ventm'ed  the  self-evident  in- 
formation that  "the  soap  was  soft,"  and  that  "Moll 
made  it,"  as  he  laid  the  saucer  on  the  stump  before 
the  fastidious  stranger. 

After  washing,  the  long  man  selected  an  oasis  on  a 
long,  dirty  towel,  under  the  belief  that  the  spot 
selected  was  clean,  and  Robert  went  through  the 
motions  of  drying,  then  entered  the  cabin.  There 
was  a  dense  smoke  inside  and  a  stifling  smell  of 
burning  bacon.     In  the  center  of  the  floor  stood  a 


"  COMED  FRUM  FUR."  179 

^able  supplied  with  blue-bordered  stone  ware.  From 
an  open-faced  cupboard  that  was  tilted  back  at  the 
top  against  the  shanty  w^alls,  strips  of  leather  bord- 
ered the  cupboard  shelves,  and  the  strips  were  orna- 
mented at  set  distances  with  brass-headed  nails.  The 
aails  were  useful  as  well  as  dazzling,  for  they  served 
to  keep  the  spoons  of  various  sizes  and  materials 
apart,  which  were  hung  by  the  necks  in  the  black 
leather  straps.  There  was  a  huge  fire-place  at  one 
end  of  the  shanty,  and  two  monstrous  andirons 
flanked  a  Dutch  oven  on  the  hearth.  Through  the 
door,  looking  into  the  other  wing  of  the  double-log 
shanty,  a  glimpse  of  the  floor,  covered  with  a  confused 
mass  of  bed-clothing,  like  an  agitated  sea,  could  be 
caught,  while  Moll,  like  a  siren,  stood  amid  the 
woolen  waves  with  a  piece  of  glass  in  her  large  hand, 
evidently  satisfied  with  the  charms  on  which  the  stran- 
ger was  soon  to  look. 

Moll  soon  appeared,  a  large,  full-faced  woman,  with 
black  hair  and  eyes,  and  an  open  mouth  that  dis- 
played the  jagged  ruin  of  what  might  once  have  been 
a  very  fine  set  of  teeth.  She  was  about  thirty  years 
of  age,  and  her  straight,  baggy-looking,  brown  woolen 
dress  served  rather  to  show  than  conceal  her  Amazo- 
nian form.  As  she  entered  she  addressed  Eobert  in 
a  loud  but  not  a  disagreeable  voice,  "Momin',  stran- 
ger !    Comed  frum  fur  ?" 

"Good  morning,  madam.  I  have  come  from  the  in- 
terior of  the  State,"  answered  Robert,  meekly. 

"See  any  Union  men  up  your  way?"  asked  Moll,  as 
she  opened  the  Dutch  oven  and  took  out  a  pile  of 
brown  com  dodgers.  Robert  intimated  that  he  saw  a 
few  at  times,  when  Moll,  who  hastily  removed  the  lid 


180  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

of  the  overflowing  cofiee-pot,  with  the  skirt  of  her 
dress  about  her  hand  to  prevent  it  being  burned,  said 
with  energy,  "Union  men — them's  me,  I'm  a  Union 
man."  This  was  rather  startling  information,  but 
Robert,  supposing  she  used  the  word  "man"  in  a 
generic  sense,  ventured  to  say  he  "knew  a  great 
many  fine  people  who  favored  the  Union."  This 
statement  had  a  softening  influence  on  Moll,  who 
soon  commenced  breakfast.  The  meal  was  not  tempt- 
ing, but  Robert,  w'ho  sat  near  Moll  while  she  poured 
out  the  coffee,  and  handed  dodgers  and  bacon  to  the 
little  snorters  under  the  table,  enjoyed  his  meal,  and 
praised  Moll's  skill  as  a  cook.  The  long  man,  whose 
red  beard  glistened  with  pork  gravy,  corroborated 
Robert's  opinion  by  stating  "Moll  could  discount 
any  woman  on  the  river." 

After  breakfast  Robert  went  to  the  stable,  accom- 
panied by  the  long  man,  and  finding  that  the  horse 
was  doing  well,  he  sat  down  on  a  log  and  enjoyed  a 
smoke,  while  he  obtained  all  the  information  he 
could  about  the  Texans  and  the  road  up  the  river 
towards  Donelson,  with  which  the  long  man  was 
evidently  well  acquainted.  The  long  man,  after 
Robert  had  learned  all  he  could  by  questions,  ven- 
tured the  information  that  Moll  was  from  Indiana 
and  dow^n  on  secession.  In  proof  of  this,  he  cited  the 
following  fact :  "  Thar  wuz  some  Texans  bar  a  few 
days  gone  to  dinner.  One  of  'em  named  Townsend 
tole  Moll  he  was  born  North,  an'  I  swar  to  gracious  I 
thought  she'd  spring  an'  strangle  him.  As  it  was,  kin- 
der accident  like,  she  spilled  the  coffee-pot  down  his 
back,  an'  I  reckon  it  didn't  make  him  any  more  com- 
fortable for  it." 


"THEM'S  MY  SPONSl"  181 

After  a  few  hours*  rest,  Robert  signified  his  inten- 
tion to  push  on,  and  going  to  the  house  with  the  long 
man  he  asked  him  at  the  door  how  much  he  owed 
him.  The  long  man  looked  down  and  said  in  a  low 
tone  :  "  Yeh  owe  me  nothin'."  Moll  overheard  him, 
and  shouted  out : 

"  Nothin',  yeh  loot  ?  Am  I  a-goin'  to  mess  and 
slave  fur  nothin'  ?  Bill  Grimes,  are  you  goin'  to  take 
bread  out  of  your  own  childrens'  mouth  an'  give  it 
away  fur  nothin'  ?  Not  much,  while  I  boss  this  shanty," 
said  Moll,  answering  her  ovm  question.  "You've  gin 
enough  to  them  Texas  brutes,  what's  so  fond  of  pork. 
But  I  settled  with  one.  Now,  stranger,"  addressing 
Robert,  "  fork  me  over  ten  dollars,"  and  Moll  assumed 
a  threatening  attitude,  as  if  about  to  enforce  her 
order,  while  she  reached  out  one  muscular  hand  for 
the  money. 

Robert  opened  his  pocket-book  and  handed  her  ten 
dv>llars  in  Confederate  paper. 

"Do  you  call  that  money?"  asked  Mrs.  Grimes,  in- 
dignantly throwing  the  bill  on  the  ground.  "  Give 
me  ten  dollars  in  jingling  cash,  or  ye' 11  never  git  yer 
saddle  agin.     I've  took  care  of  that !" 

"  Moll  don't  be  a  foo don't  be  so  funny,"  said 

the  long  man,  correcting  himself.     *'The  stranger's 
money's  good." 

"  Yes  ;  good  to  light  the  fire.  Come,  stranger,  fork 
over,"  said  Moll,  more  peremptory  than  before. 

Robert  laughed  and  handed  her  two  five-dollar  gold 
pieces,  which  mollified  the  snorter,  for  she  said : 
*'  Them's  my  spons !"  and  immediately  went  to  the 
well,  down  which  Robert's  saddle  was  hanging  by  a 
rope. 


188  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Don  was  soon  saddled,  and  Robert  monnted,  when 
he  turned  and  said  :  "  Mr.  Grimes,  am  I  to  have  the 
pleasure  of  your  company  as  a  guide  ?    I  will  pay  you." 

"  No  you  ain't,"  said  Moll,  with  anger  in  her  black 
eyes.  Then  turning  to  the  long  man  she  commanded : 
"  Say  no,  you  ole  fool ;  say  no !"  and  the  long  man 
said  "  No,"  when  Robert  raised  his  hat,  wished  them 
good  morning,  and  Don  galloped  up  the  Clarksville 
pike. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 


UNWELCOME  VISITORS. 

About  10  o'clock  in  the  evening,  after  a  rapid  ride 
of  nearly  sixty  miles,  over  a  rough,  undulating  coun- 
try, and  along  a  poor  road,  Robert  drew  rein  at  a 
plantation  near  Clydetown,  Trigg  County,  close  to  the 
Tennessee  line. 

The  proprietor  of  the  place  was  a  tobacco  planter, 
and  a  decided  States-rights  man,  who  had  only  to  be 
acquainted  with  Robert's  business  to  aid  him  by  every 
means  in  his  power.  He  learned  that  a  few  hours' 
ride  next  morning  would  take  him  to  Fort  Donelson ; 
so  he  saw  his  horse  cared  for,  ate  a  hearty  supper,  and 
went  to  bed  at  once,  telling  the  landlord,  after  he  had 
paid  him,  that  he  would  start  in  the  morning  before 
that  gentleman  was  up. 

Robert  had  scarcely  removed  his  boots  after  going 
to  his  room,  when  he  was  startled  by  the  tramping  of 
horses  outside  his  window,  accompanied  by  the  fa- 
miliar jingle  of  Mexican  spurs.  He  raised  the  sash 
cautiously,  and  could  hear  a  jargon  of  voices  close  by, 
followed  by  the  clanging  of  sabers  on  the  gallery. 
The  men  had  fastened  their  horses  and  entered  the 
house,  where  they  appeared  to  be  well  acquainted 
with  the  landlord,  who  met  them  at  the  door. 

"  Why,  Lieutenant  Bentley,  I'm  right  glad  to  see 
you,"  was  the  greeting  of  Mr.  Webb,  the  landlord. 


184  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

•' What's  the  news  ?  Are  the  Yanks  advancijsg  yet, 
or  ain't  they  going  to  come?" 

"  I  shouldn't  be  surprised  if  they  would  be  along 
right  soon,"  said  the  man  addressed  as  Lieutenant 
Bentley.  ' '  But  we're  just  returning  from  a  scout,  Mr. 
Webb,  and  we're  all  hungrier  than  coyotes  in  winter. 
Can't  you  get  us  something  to  eat  and  keep  us  for  the 
night?" 

"How  many  of  you  are  there?"  prudently  asked 
Mr.  Webb. 

*'Six,  entirely,"  said  the  lieutenant;  "but  you 
needn't  be  particular;  we're  used  to  it." 

Mr.  Webb  appeared  to  imderstand  what  the  lieuten- 
ant was  used  to,  for  he  said :  "  I've  only  one  spare 
bed  in  the  house,  but,"  said  Mr.  Webb,  in  a  tone  of 
recollection,  "  thar's  a  stranger  that's  got  a  whole  bed 
to  himself  in  thar.  He's  going  to  the  fort  with  a  mail, 
an's  a  fine  fellow,  riding  a  slapping  black  horse.  I 
reckon  you  can  sleep  with  him,  or  take  the  spare  bed 
and  let  Townsend  sleep  with  the  stranger." 

*'  We  will  attend  to  the  horses  and  supper  first,  Mr. 
Webb.  The  sleeping  will  be  easily  arranged,"  said 
the  lieutenant,  as  the  Texans  went  out  to  attend  to 
their  horses,  and  Mr.  Webb,  after  ordering  a  servant 
to  prepare  something  to  eat  for  the  six  hungry  men, 
rapped  at  Robert's  door.  On  its  being  opened,  Mr. 
Webb  apologized  for  disturbing  his  guest,  and  said : 

*'  I  don't  know  if  you  w^ould  object,  sir,  but  there 
are  a  lot  of  Texans  here — good  fellows — and  you  would 
save  one  from  sleeping  on  the  floor  by  making  room 
for  him  in  your  bed." 

Robert  replied,  "  Certainly,  Mr.  Webb,  there  is  room 
here  for  three,  if  necessary ;  but  as  I  am  a  light  sleeper 


A  STRAGETICAL  SNORE.  185 

send  my  room-mate  here  as  soon  as  possible,  so  as  to 
get  rid  of  the  noise." 

Mr.  TVebb  thanked  Eobert  for  his  kindness,  and  re- 
minded him  that  as  he  started  early  in  the  morning 
he  would  have  a  cold  snack  prepared  and  left  on  the 
table  for  him,  and  the  boy  would  attend  to  his  horse. 

Robert  had  not  yet  undressed,  but  as  soon  as  Mr. 
Webb  left,  he  finished  disrobing,  and  tying  all  his 
clothing  in  a  bundle  he  placed  the  bundle  on  a  chair  at 
the  foot  of  the  bed  beside  his  mail-bags.  Then  he  ex- 
amined his  pistols,  and  placing  them  under  his  pillow, 
he  laid  down,  but  not  to  sleep.  He  heard  the  Texans 
coming  back  from  the  stable,  and  shortly  after  the 
clatter  of  their  knives  and  forks  and  the  boisterous 
language  of  the  rangers. 

As  soon  as  they  had  finished  supper,  Bentley  called 
out: 

"  Say,  Mr.  Webb,  I'm  ready  to  go  to  roost ;  where 
am  I  to  sleep?" 

Mr.  Webb  answered:  "The  gentleman  with  the 
mail  has  no  objections  to  one  ;  he  said  two,  but  that 
would  be  an  imposition.  Then  two  can  sleep  on  the 
floor  and  three  in  the  spare  be^" 

"  Then  I'll  sleep  with  the  stnmger ;  so  here  goes," 
said  a  voice  that  sent  a  cold  thrill  through  Robert. 

"  No  you  don't,  Townsend,"  said  Bentley,  pushing 
him  back,  "  that's  my  nest  for  this  night,"  and  he  un- 
buckled his  spurs  and  belt,  and  taking  a  candle  en- 
tered Robert's  room.  That  individual  was  feigning 
sleep,  with  the  clothes  drawn  half  over  his  head  and 
his  face  to  the  wall,  while  he  imitated,  capitally,  that 
difficult  and  torturing  sort  of  snore  where  the  sleeper 
takes  a  long,  whistling  breath  through  his  nose,  ho^'?  * 
16* 


186  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

it  for  an  instant  in  his  lungs,  as  if  to  consider  its  qual« 
ity,  and  then,  as  if  satisfied  that  it  smells  bad,  slowly 
puffs  it  out  through  his  mouth. 

It  did  not  take  Bentley  long  to  undress,  blow  out 
the  light,  and  leap  into  bed,  muttering  as  he  did,  •'  That 
is  one  devil  of  a  snorer !" 

Robert  started  up  as  if  sruddenly  awaked,  and  grasp- 
ing Bentley 's  arms  in  his  vice-like  grip,  said  in  deep, 
gruff  tone  :  "Hello,  who  is  this?" 

"  It 's  me,  stranger — Bentley.  By  thunder,  what  a 
grip  you  have  !     Webb  said  it  was  all  right. " 

"Oh!  I  beg  yom-  pardon,'*  said  Robert.  "I  was 
asleep  and  dreaming  of  danger." 

"  Well,  all  I  've  got  to  say,  friend,"  said  Bentley, 
laughing,  "if  you're  as  powerful  as  that  when  you're 
dreaming,  I  'd  pity  the  fellow  you  got  yom*  hands  on 
in  anger  when  awake." 

"One  gets  excited,  you  know,"  said  Robert,  in  his 
assumed  voice.  Then  continuing,  he  asked,  as  he 
turned  from  the  wall:  " Do  you  belong  to  the  army, 
Bir?" 

"Yes,"  replied  Bentley,  "I  belong  to  the  Eighth 
Texas,  Colonel  Terry,  Wharton's  battalion,  and  jest 
about  the  best  men  ever  got  into  this  infernal  State." 

"  I  expect  they  are.  I  have  heard  them  highly 
spoken  of,"  said  Robert.  "What  part  of  the  State 
did  you  come  from?  I  ask  because  I  traveled  in 
Texas  some  two  years  ago," 

'  'You  do  n't  say !' '  said  Bentley,  in  surprise.  "  Why, 
we  come  pretty  much  altogether  from  Brazoria  and 
Fort  Bend  counties.  Were  you  ever  down  in  that 
region,  stranger?" 

"  Yes.     I  had  a  delightful  time  hunting  down  there 


IN  CLOSE  QUARTERS.  187 

with  a  young  man  whom  I  knew  at  school.  His  name 
was  WaiTen — Robert  Warren,  of  Gonzelletta.  No 
doubt  he  is  here  with  you,  for  I  know  him  to  be  a 
positive  man  who  would  not  remain  out  of  such  a  con- 
test as  this." 

Robert  was  drawing  him  on. 

"  I  'm  right  glad  to  know  you  've  been  in  our  parts, 

Mr.  ."     (Robert   supplied   the  word  "Turner.") 

*'  Yes,  Mr.  Turner,  it 's  next  to  meeting  an  old  friend. 
But  your  friend  Warren  turned  out  bad,"  said  the 
lieutenant. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  hear  that,"  said  Robert,  in  a  low  tone. 

"  Well,  I  was,  too  ;  for  Bob  Warren  had  many  good 
qualities.  He  was  handsome,  rich,  and  well  educated. 
I  might  say,  too,  that  he  was  one  of  the  bravest  men 
I  ever  met ;  but  the  fact  is  he  went  against  secession 
strong.  Ths  night  of  our  voting  on  secession,  he  met 
three  men  on  the  road  who  had  opposed  him  during 
the  day,  and  with  the  aid  of  his  big  black  boy  Archy — 
you  may  remember  him  ;  supposed  you  would ;  he 
was  a  noticeable  nigger — Avell,  they  killed  one  of  the 
men  dead  and  wounded  the  others,  one  of  them  so 
bad  that  he  died ;  the  other  one  is  now  here  in  the 
house." 

"  Indeed,' '  said  Robert,  interrupting  him,  in  smprise. 
"  What  is  the  man's  name  w^ho  is  here  ?" 

"Townsend,"  answ^erod  the  lieutenant. 

"  I  do  n't  iinow  him,"  said  Robert. 

"  Wall,  you  miss  nothing,  for  this  fellow  Townsend 

is  a  d d  beat — a  renegade  Yankee.     I  have  no 

faith  in  them.  He  did  n't  join  us  till  a  month  ago, 
and  then  he  came  on  to  avoid  being  drafted." 

*'  You  astonish  me,  sir,  about  Warren,"  said  Robert, 


188  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

ill  genuine  surprise,  but  with  a  disguised  voice.    "But 
'  how  did  he  come  to  get  away?" 

"Just    boldness,    d d    troldness,    Mr.   Turner. 

There  was  a  reward  offered  for  him,  and  I  tracked  liim 
to  a  settlement  up  the  river,  whar  he  was  the  day 
after  the  murder,  a  putting  on  airs.  Why,  he  drank 
a  toast  plum  agin  us,  and  made  the  others  join  him, 
though  they  did  n't  see  the  joke  till  I  explained  it." 

"  I  am  still  more  amazed.  I  hope  I  am  not  keeping 
you  awake,  lieutenant." 

"  Not  at  all,"  replied  the  lieutenant.  *'  I  am  glad 
to  find  a  sensible  man  to  talk  to.  Then  I  followed 
him  to  Marshall,  and  I  saw  him  when  he  rode  in  with 
his  boy  and  a  fellow  named  Gaints.  Thar  was  lota 
of  Union  men  thar ;  so  I  did  n't  go  for  him  in  day- 
light, but  waited  for  the  night.  Well,  somehow  he 
got  suspicious,  and  left  before  dark.  I  got  some  fel- 
lers to  follow  him,  but  he  dodged  them,  and  got  into 
some  swamps  near  Caddo  Lake.  Shortly  after  a  flood 
came  and  dro^vned  him  and  the  others.  We  found 
one  of  their  dead  horses  and  some  of  their  clothes  ;  so 
I  reckon  they  Ve  gone  to  that  place  whar  all  Yankees 
have  got  to  go." 

*'  Wonders  will  never  cease,  lieutenant,"  said  Rob- 
ert, "  but  your  conclusion  is  correct.  Before  long  w<^ 
shall  see  a  host  of  Yankees  following  in  the  tracks  of 
this  man  Warren." 

"  I  reckon,  stranger,  you  come  from  Kentucky,  by 
your  talk,"  said  the  lieutenant. 

*'No  ;  I  came  originally  from  South  Carolina,"  re- 
plied Robert. 

"  The  deuce  you  did !  I  tell  you  she  's  a  bully  St « *^«. 
I  wish  Kentucky  was  like  her." 


A  GARRULOUS  BED-FELLOW.  189 

"  How  many  men  have  you  in  the  Eighth  Texas, 
lieutenant,  and  where  are  they  stationed?" 

"  We  have  about  sixteen  hundred,  and  they  are  sta- 
tioned all  along  from  Bowling  Green  to  Columbus, 
scouting.  I  tell  you  the  Yanks  do  n't  know  how  to 
scout.  "We  nabbed  some  of  their  men  not  long  ago,  and 
it  vv  ould  have  made  your  head  swim  to  see  them  swing.'* 

Robert  intimated  that  such  a  sight  would  be  a  rare 
treat,  and  then  said, 

*'  I  am  going  to  Fort  Donelson  with  a  mail  in  the 
morning.  Hov^r  long  will  it  take  me  to  get  there  if  I 
start  at  four  o'clock?" 

"  You  can  get  thar  ready  by  eleven,  but,  if  you  want 
company,  I  'm  going  down  in  the  afternoon.  I  have 
to  report  to  Wharton.  Between  me  and  you,  I  think 
I  am  to  be  sent  inside  the  Yankee  lines." 

"'  A  perilous  but  necessary  duty,"  said  Robert ;  then 
continuing,  "  I  suppose  we  have  a  good  force  at  Fort 
Donelson,  in  case  of  an  attack?" 

"  I  thought  we  had  nigh  on  to  fifty  thousand,  but  I 
heard  Pillow's  chief  of  staff  say  to-day  at  Dover  that 
we  had  only  twenty-four  thousand,  including  Forrest's 
cavalry." 

*'  I  am  sorry  to  hear  that,"  said  Robert.  "Have 
you   any  idea  of  what  they  are  going  to  do?" 

"Well,  the  supposition  is  now  that  the  Yankees 
will  attack  Bowling  Green,  Then  we  '11  join  Albert 
Sydney  Johnston,  and  move  down  the  Cumberland, 
slap  into  the  Yankee  country.  That's  Wharton's 
idea,  and  he  got  it  from  good  authority." 

Robert  turned  towards  the  lieutenant  and  laid  his 
hand  affectionately  on  his  shoulder  as  he  said, 

*'  Now  what  would  be  the  shortest  route  for  oie  to 


190  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

take  to  the  fort?  I  do  n't  want  to  be  troubled  with 
pickets,  and  guards,  and  the  like,  for  I  am  in  a  hurry. 
I  want  to  get  back  to  Lexington  in  a  week,  and  will 
have  enough  trouble  with  the  Yankees,  without  being 
bothered  by  my  own  friends." 

"  See  here,  Mr.  Turner,  I '  ve  got  a  pass  in  my  pocket 
allowing  me  to  go  through  the  lines  at  any  time.  You 
take  it ;  I  can  make  out  I  've  lost  it,  and  get  another 
when  I  want  it." 

"No,  my  good  friend,"  said  llobert,  feelingly,  "I 
will  not  put  you  to  any  trouble.  Hurried  as  I  am,  I 
would  not  bother  a  gallant  soldier." 

This  decided  the  lieutenant,  who  leaped  out  of  bed 
and  fumbled  with  his  pants  till  he  found  the  open 
sesame  paper,  which  he  handed  to  Robert,  and  Rob- 
ert got  up  and  put  it  in  his  pocket,  uttering  profuse 
thanks  as  he  did  so. 

The  lieutenant  told  him  not  to  mention  it,  and  said  : 
*'  Mr.  Turner,  you  are  a  good  fellow.  Hanged  if  your 
voice  do  n't  sound  at  times  as  if  I  'd  known  you  all  my 
life,  and  I  keep  trying  where  to  put  you,  but  as  I  never 
saw  you  before  to-night,  of  course  it's  nonsense. 
Haven't  you  met  fellows  like  that  yourself?" 

"  Oh,  very  often,"  said  Robert,  as  he  thought  how 
much  Bentley  had  seen  of  him  before,  and  how  little 
to-night. 

Both  men  remained  quiet,  as  if  desiring  to  go  to 
Bleep,  but  Robert's  mind  reverted  to  Gonzelletta. 
Bentley  had  left  there  more  recently  than  himself. 
He  might  learn  something  about  his  family. 

"Excuse  me,  lieutenant,"  he  said,  "but  I  cannot 
get  that  fellow  Warren  out  of  my  head.  I  remember 
his  father  and  sister.     His  mother,  too,  was  a  fine  old 


ALMOST  UNDISGUISED.  191 

lady  ;  and,  if  I  remember  rightly,  lie  was  attached  to 

a  sweet  girl  named  Miss  Boardman." 

**  Your  memory  is  good,  Mr.  Turner;  but  it  would 
be  a  long  story  to  tell  you  all.  The  old  man  shielded 
his  son,  and  he  was  sent  to  jail."  Bentley  stopped  sud- 
denly, for  Robert  called  out,  "  Gracious  heaven  !"  and 
gi'oaned  as  if  in  agony. 

"  What's  wrong,  Mr.  Turner?  "What's  wrong?"  said 
Bentley  in  terror,  leaping  out  of  bed.  Robert  sat  up 
and  clutching  his  fingers  till  the  nails  entered  the 
flesh,  he  conquered  his  feelings,  and  said  :  "Nothing, 
lieutenant ;  but  sometimes  I  am  taken  with  a  pain  in 
the  heart,  and  it  comes  sudden,  like  the  blow  of  a 
dagger,  and  then  is  gone.  I've  just  had  a  stroke,  but 
it's  past.  Lie  down,  lieutenant,  I  will  let  you  sleep, 
and  I  will  feel  better  for  being  quiet.  My  lo'ng  ride 
and  anxiety  have  upset  me.     Lie  down,  lieutenant." 

The  lieutenant  did  lie  down,  first,  however,  offering 
to  bring  "Mr.  Turner"  a  drink,  or  send  for  a  doctor. 

A  few  remarks  about  Robert's  complaint,  and  words 
of  genuine  sympathy  from  the  lieutenant,  and  they 
said  "Good  night,"  the  one  to  sleep,  the  other  to  think 
of  the  grey-haired  prisoner  on  the  Brazos,  and  to  pic- 
ture to  himself  the  terrible  sequel  of  the  story  Bentley 
had  just  begun.  But  he  only  forgot  himself  for  the 
moment ;  he  felt  that  all  his  strength  and  coolness 
and  courage  were  now  required  for  his  desperate  un- 
dertaking, and  it  would  be  foolish  to  weaken  himself 
by  other  thoughts.  Still  through  the  long  hours,  as 
he  lay  beside  the  man  who  once  had  sought  his  life, 
and  whom  a  word  v»^ould  awake  to  vengeance,  his  mind 
turned  again  and  again  to  the  desolate  home  and  the 
grey-haired  man  in  prison,  and  the  fatal  knowledge  in 
the  heart  of  his  sleeping  companion. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


AGAIN   ON    THF    ROAD. 

While  the  clock  was  striking  four,  Kobert  hurriedly 
rose,  without  waking  his  bed-fellow,  and  dressed. 
Going  to  the  room  where  he  had  eaten  supper  the 
night  before,  he  found  the  "snack"  which  Mr.  Webb 
had  promised  awaiting  him.  The  boy  was  up  and 
announced  his  horse  as  just  saddled. 

It  was  a  dark,  cold  morning,  and  Robert's  spirits 
were  anything  but  light  as  he  turned  Don's  head 
southward.  By  daylight  he  had  crossed  the  State  line 
and  entered  Stewart  County,  Tennessee,  and  before 
eleven  o'clock  he  had  reached  Dora,  four  miles  south 
of  Fort  Donelson,  and  on  the  Cumberland  River.  He 
put  up  at  a  little  out-of-the-way  tavern,  and  saw  that 
his  horse  was  put  in  a  stall  where  he  would  not  attract 
attention,  knowing  that  the  Texans  remember  a  horse 
better  than  they  do  a  man.  He  found  the  tavern  full  of 
soldiers,  swaggering  and  swearing  in  a  manner  pecu- 
liar to  the  uneducated  men  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
Satisfying  himself  that  there  were  no  Rangers  in  the 
bar-room,  he  walked  in,  and  stepping  to  the  counter 
asked  for  "something  to  drink."  Looking  around, 
he  noticed  a  young  fellow  with  a  frank,  manly  face, 
and  nodding,  Robert  invited  him  to  join  him,  which 
the  young  man  very  willingly  did,  first  discharging  a 
huge  quid  of  tobacco  from  his  mouth.     Robert  was 


"CHUCK  FULL  OF  CANNON."  193 

fortunate  enough  to  secure  a  room  to  himself,  and  to 
this  he  invited  his  loquacious  acquaintance,  ordering 
more  liquor  to  be  sent  to  his  room,  a  thing  which 
'delighted  the  landlord  and  the  Mississippian,  for  such 
the  young  man  jDroved  to  be. 

"Where  mout  yeh  be  going?"  asked  the  young 
man,  after  they  had  entered  the  room. 

Robert  assumed  the  vernacular  peculiar  to  the  Mis- 
sissippians,  and  replied : 

' '  Jes'  as  soon  as  I  kin  git  a  little  rest  I  'm  agoin* 
up  ter  the  fort.  I  've  got  a  mail  for  ole  Buck  an'  the 
boys  from  Kaintuck.  I  reckon  they  '11  all  be  kinder 
glad  to  har  from  home.  What's  your  regiment, 
friend  ?  " 

"I  belong  to  the  Second  Mississippi,  under  Forrest. 
Mos'  of  our  men  are  up  atDonelson,"  said  the  young  man. 

*'I  reckon  yeh  know  right  smart  of  people  up  thar. 
Got  millions  of  men,  I  reckon,  in  the  fort?"  said 
Robert,  filling  a  glass  with  whisky  and  handing  it  to 
the  young  man,  who  took  it,  and  this  time  econom- 
ically held  his  quid  in  his  hand,  and  restored  it  to  his 
mouth  after  he  had  drank. 

"Wall,  we  hav'nt  got  so  many  men,  friend,"  said 
the  yoimg  man,  drawing  his  coat  sleeve  across  his 
lips,  *'but  I  think  we've  got  'nuff  to  clean  out  every 
d — d  Yankee  in  the  land." 

This  was  certainly  modest  in  the  opinion  of  Robert, 
and  he  ventured  to  say  : 

"  I  know  we  can  lick  the  Yankees,  if  we  Ve  only 
got  lots  of  cannon.     Cannon  is  the  thing,  after  all !" 

"  Yer  head  's  level  thar,  friend,"  said  the  young 
man,   looking  very  wise,   "  an'   I   can  tell  yeh  Fort 
Donelson  's  chuck  full  of  cannon." 
17 


194  T7ARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Robert  looked  up  in  wonder,  and  the  young  man 
repeated,  "  Yes,  friend,  chuck  full  of  cannon.  Now 
E  know  all  about  that,  kase  I  counted  'em  only  Sun- 
day last." 

He  then  went  on  to  name  the  batteries  and  enume- 
rate the  number  of  guns  in  each,  and  the  size.  This 
information  was  by  no  means  reliable,  and  could  only 
be  of  use  in  coiToborating  other  facts  which  Robert 
hoped  to  obtain.  He  plied  the  Mississippian  with  glass 
after  glass,  till,  overcome,  he  fell  upon  the  floor,  and, 
hiccupping  the  praises  of  his  entertainer,  he  fell  asleep. 

Robert  threw  him  on  the  bed  and  searched  his 
clothing,  but  found  on  him  nothing  that  would  add  to 
his  information.  He  determined  not  to  go  up  to  the 
fort  till  after  dark,  so  pulling  off  his  boots,  he  lay 
down  beside  the  drunken  Mississippian,  and,  despite 
dinner-gongs,  bugs,  and  drunken  broils,  he  slept  till 
after  sundown.  He  was  aroused  by  the  racket  made 
by  the  Mississippian  in  his  search  for  the  bottle, 
which  he  had  purposely  hidden  before  lying  down. 

He  rose  much  refreshed,  and  gave  the  soldier  the 
bottle,  telling  him  to  di'ink  what  was  left.  After  a 
by  no  means  hearty  supper,  he  ordered  his  horse, 
and,  learning  the  direction,  he  started  for  Fort  Don- 
elson. 

With  his  hat  slouched  and  his  great-coat  collar 
turned  up,  he  rode  at  a  sharp  trot  for  about  three 
miles,  when  he  was  brought  suddenly  to  a  stand  by 
the  peremptory  ' '  Halt !  who  goes  there  ? "  of  an 
armed  guard. 

Robert  pulled  in  his  horse,  and,  in  a  gruff  voice, 
replied  "  A  friend,  with  a  pass.*' 

Without  being  ordered  to  dismount,  the  guard  took 


"HALT!"— THE  FORT  REACHED.  105 

his  pass,  and,  with  one  hand  on  Don's  bridle,  he 
called  the  coiporal  of  the  guard.  That  individual 
soon  came  with  a  lantern,  and,  glancing  at  the  pass, 
he  hurriedly  raised  his  head  and  lantern,  and  in  a 
hearty  voice  said : 

"  Hello,  Bentley,  glad  to  see  you,  old  boy  !'* 

The  light  soon  revealed  his  mistake,  and  in  an  ex- 
cited tone  he  said, 

"  You  a  prisoner !     Guards,  seize  that  man  !" 

Robert  explained,  but  it  was  of  no  avail,  and  just 
as  he  was  about  to  start  for  the  fort,  a  prisoner,  he 
heard  the  same  command  of  "  Halt !"  and  the  voice 
of  Bentley  answered  the  challenge.  The  corporal 
recognized  him,  and  went  up  to  ask  an  explanation, 
while  Robert  pulled  lower  his  hat  and  higher  his  col- 
lar, for  the  night,  to  him,  was  bitterly  cold. 

Bentley's  account  agreed  with  Robert's,  when  the 
corporal  apologized,  and  handed  his  late  prisoner  a 
small  flask,  begging  that  he  would  drink  to  their  bet- 
ter acquaintance.  Robert  made  a  show  of  drinking, 
and  thanked  the  corporal,  while  he  praised  his  sol- 
dierly vigilance. 

"  Yes,  friend,"  said  the  corporal,  "  I  know  my  duty, 
and  we  must  be  careful.  It  would  raise  hell  with  us 
if  the  Yanks  could  get  a  good  spy  to  report  every- 
thing in  Fort  Donelson.  Between  us,  I  do  n't  like 
the  looks  of  things  at  Paducah,  if  reports  be  true." 

It  was  cold  and  dark  as  the  two  Texans  rode  along 
laughing  over  the  difficulty  Robert  had  just  escaped. 
How  different  were  their  thoughts,  their  motives, 
their  duties.  They  passed  several  other  guards  with- 
out trouble,  and  entered  the  fort  by  a  road  along  the 
river  front.     After  riding  about  four  hundred  yards 


J 96  WARREX  OF  TEXAS. 

Bentley  pointed  out  General  Buckner's  headquarters 
and  shaking  hands  with  Robert,  he  promised  to  call 
on  him  in  the  morning,  and  rode  off  in  another 
direction. 

Before  General  Buckner's  house  there  was  a  guard, 
to  whom  Robert  expressed  his  desire  to  see  the  general. 
The  guard  called  an  orderly,  and  the  orderly  took  in 
Robert's  letter.  Reappearing  in  a  few  minutes,  he  said, 
*'  The  general  wishes  to  see  the  courier." 
Leaving  the  orderly  to  hold  his  horse,  Robert  en- 
tered, and  found  the  general  seated  before  a  table 
covered  with  maps  and  papers.  The  general  was  a 
florid,  compactly-built  man,  with  a  soldierly  face  and 
carriage.  Robert  had  assumed  the  name  of  Roberts, 
and  as  such  was  introduced  to  a  heavy-set  man  with 
a  smooth  face  and  a  lai^ge  soap-lock  of  black  hair 
plastered  down  on  his  large,  protruding  forehead. 
This  was  Roger  Hanson,  of  Kentucky,  a  man  about 
fifty  years  of  age,  and  exceedingly  free  and  cordial  in 
his  manner.  Robert  noticed,  as  Colonel  Hanson  ad- 
vanced to  take  his  hand,  that  he  walked  lame,  the 
effect  of  a  duel  before  the  war.  The  colonel  was 
very  inquisitive,  but  Robert  answered  or  evaded  his 
questions  with  skill.  He  was  from  Campbell  County  ; 
had  lived  in  Covington ;  had  friends  in  Lexington ; 
was  there  and  was  introduced  to  Colonel  Hanson  at  a 
large  States-rights  meeting  where  Colonel  Hanson 
Fpoke  after  his  return  from  the  east.  He  remembered 
that  Colonel  Hanson  went  east  a  Union  man  but  came 
back  in  favor  of  secession.  He  quoted  some  of  Colonel 
Hanson's  speech,  approved  his  course,  and  conse- 
quently won  the  heart  of  Hanson  and  the  respect  of 
the  listeninof  Buckner. 


AT  BUCKNER'S  HEADQUARTERS.  197 

While  Robert  and  Colonel  Hanson  were  conversing, 
the  general  v/as  sorting  his  own  letters,  and  he  finished 
reading  one  of  some  length  ,about  the  time  the  con- 
versation appeared  to  lag. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  get  these  letters  at  this  time, 
Mr.  Roberts,"  said  the  general ;  "  they  contain  much 
valuable  and  to  me  surprising  information." 

He  continued  to  read,  and  Rabert,  with  a  child-like 
innocence  of  military  etiquette,  questioned  the  kind- 
hearted  Hanson  about  the  troops,  the  strength  of  the 
fort,  and  other  facts,  all  of  which  he  noted  and  con- 
signed to  his  powerful  memory. 

After  remaining  at  General  Buckner's  quarters  for 
about  an  hour,  during  which  time  the  general  was  busy 
with  his  letters.  Colonel  Hanson  thoughtfully  sug- 
gested that  Mr.  Roberts  and  his  horse  might  be  tired 
and  hungry,  and  as  Mr.  Roberts  did  not  deny  the  state- 
ment, the  general  apologized,  and  calling  his  orderly 
directed  him  to  see  that  Mr.  Roberts  was  cared  for, 
and  also  to  put  Mr.  Roberts's  horse  in  his  own  stable. 

As  Robert  was  about  leaving  he  turned,  and,  in  a 
respectful  tone,  said : 

"  General,  the  circle  expects  my  return  in  one  week 
from  to-day.  I  will  need  to  start  just  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible." 

' '  I  will  see  that  the  mail  is  distributed  at  once,  and 
any  letters  to  return  ready  by  to-morrow  night,"  said 
the  general  as  Robert  walked  out  to  partake  of  his 
hospitality.  He  was  conveyed  to  a  log  house  contain- 
ing several  rooms,  one  of  them  belonging  to  the  or- 
derly, which  that  individual  willingly  turned  over  to 
Robert,  for  his  heart  had  been  made  glad  by  a  letter 
from  home. 

17* 


198  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Robert  desired  no  supper,  and  from  choice  went  at 
once  to  bed,  but  he  did  not  sleep.     He  was  preparing 
his  plans  for  the  morrow.     Every  sound  was  listened 
to,  every  word  noted.     During  the  long  night  he  lay 
on  his  cot  thinking  of  his  dangerous  position,  or  grad- 
ually letting  memory  and  imagination  run  in  other 
channels,  till  he  was  back  at  Gonzelletta.    Once  happy 
Gonzelletta !  where  as  a  boy  he  had  chased  the  red 
deer  on  the  flowery  prairies  and  swam  the  San  Bernard 
uncaring  for  the  alligators  or  gar-fish.     Then  trouble 
was   a   myth,   and   life    full   of  healthy  joys.     But 
times  had  sadly  changed.     What  were  they  doing  at 
Gonzelletta  now?     Had   they  released  his  father — 
his   generous,    pure-hearted   father?     He   wondered 
if  they   had   heard   the   story  Bentley  related  about 
the    lakes.     Did   they   think   him  dead  ?     Did  Amy 
weep   at   the   sad  news  of  his  death  ?     But  he  would 
rejoice   their  hearts  yet.     He  would  one  day  return 
with  the  flag  and  the  untom  star,  and,  as  he  thought 
of  that,  he  clasped  his  hand  to  his  breast  and  satisfied 
himself  that   the  tatters   of  the   Brazoria   flag  were 
there.     His   poor  mother,   he   would   make  her  yet 
look   on   the   troubles  of  the  past  as  a  black  dream, 
making  real   life  brighter  for   its  contrast,  and  the 
future   lit  with   happy   hope.     His  father  should  no 
more   have   the  cares  of  the  place.     He  was  getting 
old  and  weak.     His  last  days  must  be  without  annoy- 
ance  and   labor.     He  would  smoke  with  him  on  the 
gallery  in  days  to  come,  with  Amy  and  the  rest  around 
them  ;  and  he  would  relate  to  the  old  man  the  stories 
of  battles   and   dangers   through  which  he  had  gone 
since   that  fearful  night    in    February,  '61.      Dear 
Mary !     He  would  lead  her  to  forget  the  false  love. 


PLAYING  SICI  199 

•Some  comrade,  tried  and  true,  would  yet  know  her 
and  love  her.  Through  all  his  thoughts  Amy  ran 
like  the  angel  of  hope,  and  he  pictured  her  the  mis- 
tress of  his  future  prairie  home.  Oh !  the  liappy, 
happy  future,  seen  through  the  eyes  of  hope,  colored 
with  the  tints  of  imagination,  who  can  count  the 
wealth  it  contains,  or  wreath  laurels  more  bright 
than  those  it  holds  ?  No  clouds  shadow  it.  No  rough- 
ness rises  on  its  smooth  expanse. 

So  passed  the  black  hours  of  the  long  night  in 
waking  dreams.  No  sound  broke  the  stillness,  save 
when  the  guards  shouted  at  their  posts  "  All 's  well." 
Yv^ould  that  the  words  were  true  the  world  over ;  but 
ere  long  the  thunders  of  battle  v/ill  break  the  still- 
ness of  that  fort,  and  voices  that  lustily  call  "  All  *s 
well "  will  weaken  and  be  heard  in  the  rattle  of  death. 

Eefore  morning  Robert  had  matured  his  plans.  He 
would  not  appear  outside  during  the  day,  he  nmst  be 
sick.  He  remembered  Archy's  receipt  the  night 
before  the  battle  of  Mill  Springs.  So  taking  from 
his  pocket  some  tobacco,  he  cut  off  a  piece  about  as 
large  as  a  beech-nut,  and  deliberately  swallowed  it. 
Early  in  the  morning  an  orderly  from  General  Buck- 
ner  brought  him  a  note,  which  proved  to  be  an  invita- 
tion to  breakfast,  but  Robert  could  not  rise,  he  was 
truly  and  thoroughly  sick.  A  doctor  was  called  in  at 
once,  who  pronounced  Robert  to  be  suffering  from 
prostration  and  nausea,  caused  by  some  long  and  con- 
strained excitement.  The  doctor  knew  that  Robert 
was  a  courier  before  giving  the  latter  part  of  his  opin- 
ion. Robert  took  some  medicine,  and  the  doctor  left 
him,  instructing  the  orderly  to  furnish  a  nurse  and  to 
see  that  the  patient  was  kept  quiet. 


200  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

General  Buckner  called  to  see  Kobevt,  and  regretted 
his  illness,  while  he  ordered  the  attendant  to  caiTy 
out  the  doctor's  directions.  Robert  assured  him  he 
would  be  well  very  soon,  and  attributed  the  attack  to 
his  long  journey  and  the  excitement  he  had  been 
laboring  under.  He  told  the  general  that  he  would 
soon  be  all  right,  and  asked  him  to  prepare  the  return 
mail  as  soon  as  possible,  for  he  would  be  ready  to 
mount  when  ready  to  leave  his  bed. 

In  the  afternoon  the  doctor,  who  was  attached  to 
Buckner's  staff,  called  again,  and  seeing  that  he  was 
disposed  to  talk,  Robert,  who  felt  really  lonely,  begged 
him  to  remain  with  him,  whereupon  the  kind-hearted 
physician  sat  down,  remarking  as  he  did : 

"  You  will  be  all  right  in  the  morning,  Mr.  Roberts, 
if  you  remain  quiet." 

"  Yes,  doctor,  but  I  hope  to  leave  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  I  am  very  much  disappointed  that  I  cannot 
see  the  fort.  I  think  my  inquisitive  friends  at  home 
will  be  sadly  disappointed  at  my  ignorance  of  this 
important  place,  particularly  as  I  have  not  an  idea  of 
what  a  genuine  fort  is  like." 

The  doctor  laughed  as  Robert  ceased  speaking, 
remarking  at  the  same  time  : 

'*  Mr.  Roberts,  you  lose  nothing  by  being  in  bed, 
for  you  could  gain  but  a  faint  idea  of  this  place  in  a 
hasty  survey."  Here  the  doctor  was  inteiTupted  by 
the  attendant,  who  said  Mr.  Bently  wished  to  see  Mr. 
Roberts,  but  the  doctor  told  him  it  was  impossible, 
as  Mr.  Roberts  was  too  sick  to  talk.  After  the  nurse 
had  gone  out,  Robert  rose  on  one  elbow,  and  said : 

"  Doctor,  I  want  to  know  just  what  a  fort  is  Rke. 
Say  Donelson — the  trenches,  and  all  that." 


CONTRABAND  INFORMATION.  201 

The  doctor  laughed  at  the  earnestness  and  sim- 
plicity of  his  patient,  and  tearing  a  sheet  of  paper 
from  his  prescription-book,  he  sketched  what  proved 
to  be  a  very  correct  outline  of  the  fort,  with  its 
guarded  approaches.  He  gave  an  idea  of  the  scale, 
the  positions  of  different  troops,  the  magazines  and 
batteries,  the  weight  of  the  guns  at  different  points, 
the  strong  places  and  the  weak,  according  to  the 
opinions  of  the  engineers,  and  other  facts  volunteered 
by  liim  or  skillfully  draAvn  out  by  the  patient.  Had  the 
doctor  scanned  Robert's  face  closely,  as  he  spoke,  he 
would  have  noticed  an  expression  of  intense  earnest- 
ness, for  he  was  now  noting  every  line  and  fact  for 
future  use. 

Robert  expressed  himself  as  thankful  for  the  doc- 
tor's information,  and,  looking  over  the  plan  carefully, 
he  tore  it  up,  remarking, 

*'It  would  not  do  for  the  Yankees  to  capture  me, 
even  with  so  rude  a  sketch  of  the  fort  as  this." 

The  doctor  smiled,  and  hoped  Mr.  Roberts  would 
"never  get  into  the  hands  of  the  Yankees." 

A  little  before  dark,  Robert,  though  still  quite  sick, 
got  up  and  dressed.  In  answer  to  a  note  of  inquiry 
from  General  Buckner,  he  repaired  to  the  general's 
headquarters,  where  he  found  General  Pillow,  and 
undei'^-ent  another  cross-fire  of  questions,  all  of  which 
were  answered  with  a  respect  that  vouched  for  the 
truth  of  the  replies.  General  Cuckner  told  him  the 
mail  would  be  ready  by  ten  o'clock  that  night,  and 
Rob^^rt  infonned  him  that  by  that  time  he  would  be 
well  enough  to  leave  the  fort. 


CHAPTER  XXr. 


FORT   DONELSON. 

Robert  had  everything  in  readiness  to  start  before 
midnight,  but  he  waited  till  about  three  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  when  he  rode  out  of  the  fort,  and 
crossed  the  river  at  Dover.  His  horse  was  rested, 
and  he  felt  himself  that  all  immediate  danger  was 
passed  as  he  turned  south  on  the  Clarksville  pike,  re- 
solving not  to  rest  till  inside  the  Union  lines.  Inside 
of  sixteen  hours  he  had  crossed  to  the  Tennessee 
River,  up  which,  he  learned  from  a  rebel  scout,  Gen- 
eral Grant  was  ascending,  with  a  large  force,  in  steam- 
boats. He  came  up  with  the  Union  advance  fifty 
miles  above  Fort  Henry,  turned  over  his  mail,  and 
made  a  careful  report  of  his  valuable  information, 
before  seeking  the  rest  of  which  he  stood  so  much  in 
need. 

Few  positions  held  by  the  rebels  were  stronger  natu- 
rally than  Fort  Donelson.  Situated  in  a  bend  of  the 
Cumberland,  and  on  an  elevation  that  gave  a  com- 
plete command  of  the  surrounding  country  for  miles, 
it  presented  an  impassable  obstacle  to  the  ascent  of 
steamboats  on  the  river,  and  its  reduction  by  land 
was  thought  by  the  southern  engineers  to  be  impos.si- 
ble.  The  country  around  the  fort  was  thickly  wooded, 
and  presented  no  elevations  which  the  batteries  of  an 
attacking  force  could  avail  themselves  of  to  advan- 


NIGHT  BEFORE  THE  BATTLE.  205 

tage.  The  line  of  defenses  was  in  the  form  of  a  semi- 
cirole,  thg  left  resting  on  the  river  at  Dover,  and  the 
right  on  the  river  six  rniles  above.  Fort  Donelson 
proper  crowned  a  ridge  about  the  center  of  this  cir- 
cle, three  hundred  yards  back  from  the  river.  The 
space  between  the  fort  and  river  was  occupied  by  for- 
midable water  batteries,  bearing  on  the  approaches 
in  that  direction.  Along  the  outward  line  of  defenses 
were  seven  redoubts  supplied  with  field  artillery,  and 
the  intervening  spaces  were  obstructed  by  abattis 
and  trenches.  Two  creeks  flowing  eastward  and  par- 
allel, one  six  hundred  yards  above  the  main  fort,  and 
the  other  half  that  distance  below,  added  by  their 
steep  clay  banks  and  swollen  beds  to  the  strength  of 
the  rebel  position.  Twenty  thousand  well-armed  men, 
confident  of  their  ability  to  defeat,  on  an  open  field, 
four  times  their  number  of  the  Yankees,  occupied 
Fort  Donelson,  with  its  impregnable  earthworks,  and 
the  best  officers  of  the  South  commanded  them.  Of 
course  they  were  confident,  and  laughed  when  they 
heard  that  Grant  was  advancing  from  Fort  Henry  and 
crossing  the  river  seven  miles  north  of  Fort  Donelson. 

The  afternoon  of  the  12th  saw  the  head  of  the 
Union  column  across  the  Cumberland,  and  the  rebel 
pickets  falling  back  on  the  fort.  Throughout  the  af- 
ternoon the  blue  lines  felt  their  way  west  and  south 
but,  beyond  an  occasional  shot  from  the  pickets,  all 
was  quiet. 

On  the  13th,  McClernand  had  pushed  south 
toward  Dover,  feeling  of  and  skirmishing  with  the 
enemy,  but  there  was  no  severe  fighting. 

The  night  of  the  loth  came  with  a  soft,  balmy 
au%  and   a   bright,   full    moon,   shining  down  from 


204  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

a  cloudless  oky,  and  reflected  on  the  watchful  senti- 
nels within  and  the  ciiciing  lines  without, the  fort. 
McOlernand's  men  had  three  days  cooked  rations  in 
their  haversacks,  and  wondered  why  the  attack  did 
not  begin.  Early  in  the  evening  a  cheer  came  swelling 
from  the  extreme  Union  left.  The  re-enforcements  with 
General  Smith  and  Foote's  gunboats  were  in  sight. 
The  long  blue  lines  filed  out,  the  moon  flashed  on 
their  polished  arms,  and  the  bands  filled  the  air 
with  patriotic  notes. 

That  night  saw  a  grand  host  resting  on  its  arms,  in 
position  for  the  morning's  conflict.  McClemand, 
who  had  captured  Fort  Henry,  and  whose  troops  had 
so  far  done  nearly  all  the  fighting  at  Donelson,  held 
the  post  of  honor  and  greatest  danger,  on  the  right. 
Next  to  him,  and  in  the  center  of  the  Union  line, 
General  Wallace's  division  was  firmly  posted,  and  ex- 
tending north  to  the  river  were  the  brigades  of  Gen- 
eral C.  F.  Smith,  and  on  the  river  Foote's  gunboats 
were  moored  for  the  morning's  contest.  The  early 
night  passed  away,  and  with  it  the  clear  sky,  the 
bright  moon,  and  the  warm,  balmy  air. 

The  morning  of  the  14th  came  with  a  cold, 
biting  wind,  accompanied  by  rain  and  sleet,  but  the 
storm  of  the  elements  was  unnoticed  amid  the  thun- 
ders of  battle.  Foote  opened  at  day-break,  and  the 
tide  of  battle  swept  along  the  extended  circle  to 
McClernand.  For  three  hours  there  was  one  continued 
roar  from  gunboat  and  battery,  and  the  rattling  vol- 
umes of  musketry  rose  and  fell  in  waves  of  sound 
along  the  extended  line.  Gradually  the  firing  ceased 
on  the  Union  left.  The  gunboats  vrere  disabled  and 
sent  helpless  down  the  river. 


THE  SECOND  DAY'S  CONFLICT.  205 

Throughout  the  14th  the  enemy,  who  had  dreaded 
the  gunboats  more  than  the  land  forces,  were  made 
confident  by  the  defeat  of  Foote,  and  came  out- 
side their  works  with  Indian-like  yells,  and  till  late 
in  the  afternoon  the  contending  forces  struggled  with 
varying  success.  But  before  dark  McClemand  had 
forced  the  enemy  back,  and  rested  his  extreme  right 
on  the  river  below  Dover,  thus  shutting  off  all  retreat 
to  the  south.  The  storm  of  the  previous  night 
continued  through  the  day,  and  the  night  of  the 
14th  came  to  the  fireless,  weary  army  of  Grant, 
with  its  cutting  sleet  and  biting  winds.  The  clothing 
of  the  men  was  frozen  stiff,  and  the  wounded  suffered 
fearfully  from  the  cold  ;  yet  there  was  no  complaining. 
The  army  came  for  victory,  and  through  the  terrible 
night  they  waited  anxiously  for  daylight,  to  renew  the 
attack.  Through  the  drifting  snow  and  sleet  the 
gi-ey  day  dawned  on  the  loth,  and  again  McCler- 
nand's  gallant  division  received  the  first  blow  in  the 
day's  battle.  The  enemy  saw  they  were  being  cut 
off,  and  made  a  desperate  effort  to  force  the  First 
Division  from  the  road.  Seven  thousand  infantry 
were  thrown  forward  under  cover  of  their  artillery. 
W.  H.  L.  Wallace's  and  Colonel  Oglesby's  brigades 
received  the  first  blow,  and  fell  back  slowly,  resisting 
the  fearful  onset.  In  the  meantime  the  batteries  of 
Dresser,  Taylor,  and  Schwartz  galloped  into  position, 
and  opening  at  short  range  they  checked  the  rebel 
column,  which  swung  around  and  struck  Colonel 
Hayne's  brigade.  For  three  hours  a  terrible  hand- 
to-hand  fight  with  musketry  at  short  range  stubbornly 
raged  along  the  front  of  the  First  Division.  Logan 
and  Smith,  Oglesby  and  Dickey,  with  their  Illinoisans, 
18 


206  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

fought  till  their  amiiumitioii  was  gone.  Ixansom  and 
Dickey,  though  losing  fearfully  in  men,  held  their 
ground.  The  enemy  sent  Forrest  to  charge  the 
Eleventh  Illinois,  but  his  success  was  momentary.  It 
seemed  by  eleven  o'clock  a.  m.  that  McClemand  must 
give  way,  but  re-enforcements  came  from  General  Lew 
Wallace  in  the  center,  and  Ross,  of  the  Nineteenth 
Illinois,  brought  in  two  fresh  regiments.  The  broken 
line  was  re-formed.  The  order  to  charge  sounded  along 
the  front,  and  before  the  impetuous  sweep  of  Union 
valor  the  rebels  fled,  their  dead  and  wounded  covering 
the  line  of  their  retreat.  Like  a  bull-dog  ]\IcCler- 
nand  held  the  river  bank,  and  the  first  line  of  rebel 
defenses  before  twelve  o'clock  was  occupied  by  Illi- 
nois, Indiana,  and  Kentucky  troops.  This  repulse 
did  not  dismay  the  reckless  enemy.  They  were  now 
fighting  for  an  avenue  of  escape,  and  they  swept  to 
the  left  against  the  brigade  of  Colonel  Thayer  of  the 
First  Nebraska.  General  Grant,  who  had  been  v.ith 
the  gunboats  and  Smith's  division,  reached  the  center 
of  the  field  at  the  moment  the  stoi-m  of  battle  centered 
on  Lew  Wallace's  brigades.  But  no  man  flinched. 
Thayer  received  the  onset,  and  with  his  men  from  tlie 
Northwest  and  Illinois  checked  the  rebels  in  his  front, 
and,  though  exposed  to  a  perfect  ton*ent  of  Are,  no 
colors  yielded  gi'ound.  Hurled  back  from  the  Union 
center,  the  enemy  spent  their  strength  in  a  wild  and 
useless  waste  of  ammunition.  By  three  o'clock  Gen- 
eral Grant  ordered  an  attack  alon^:  the  line,  ooeninn 
with  Smith's  division  on  the  left.  The  order  was 
answered  v;ith  loud  cheei's,  and  Smith's  massed  col- 
umns charged  over  the  rifle-pits,  across  the  abaltis, 
and  into  the  enemy's  ranks,  where  they  planted  and 


UNCONDITIONAL  SURRENDER.  207 

held  the  Union  colors.  The  news  of  ^lis  success 
reached  "Wallace  in  the  center  and  McClemand  on 
the  right,  and,  though  wearied  by  cold  and  hardship, 
their  divisions  received  the  order  to  charge  with  elec- 
trifying cheers,  and  closed  in  a  death-struggle  with 
the  enemy.  Night  came,  still  bitterly  cold,  but  the 
Union  troops  did  not  seem  to  heed  it.  They  were 
confident  of  the  morning's  victory,  and  in  that  strong 
hope  every  other  feeling  was  absorbed. 

The  morning  did  dawn,  but  no  firing  came  from  the 
enemy's  front.  The  Union  troops  strained  their  eyes 
to  the  central  fort,  where  yesterday  the  "  bars  and 
stars"  waved  in  arrogant  defiance,  and  there  they 
saw  floating  the  white  flag  of  unconditional  surrender. 
Two  hours  passed  and  the  white  flag  came  down, 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  went  up  to  the  mast-head,  and 
forty  thousand  Union  troops  marched  into  the  scene 
of  their  daring  and  victory. 

During  the  battle,  at  his  own  request  Robert  War- 
ren was  assigned  to  a  position  as  volunteer  aid  on  the 
staff  of  General  Smith,  and  he  had  a  fine  opportunity 
to  witness  this  terrible  battle.  The  feeling  of  sicken- 
ing fear  that  unmanned  him  for  a  time  at  Somerset 
came  in  a  milder  form,  but  soon  disappeared.  He 
participated  in  the  charge  of  Smith's  division,  and 
as  they  closed  on  the  enemy  he  could  see  the  rebel 
Colonel  Hanson  limping  along  the  line  and  encour- 
aging his  Kentuckians  by  a  reckless  exposure  of  his 
own  person.  He  did  not  enter  the  fort,  for  prudent 
reasons,  till  after  the  thirteen  thousand  prisoners  hr.d 
been  removed  or  paroled,  and  then  he  tasted  of  a  jov 
that  paid  him  for  all  the  danger. 

It  may  be  well  to  close  this  sketch  of  the  fight  at 
Ponelson  v/ith  a  glance  at  the  secret  service. 


208  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

In  reading  of  a  battle  during  the  war  the  reader 
pictures  to  himself  the  engagement  of  the  three 
great  arms  of  the  service.  The  thunder  of  artillery, 
the  rattling  fire  and  irresistible  charge  of  infantry, 
and  the  exciting  dash,  with  gleaming  sabers,  of  the 
cavalry,  all  go  to  make  up  the  idea  of  a  battle,  and 
the  means  by  which  a  victory  is  gained.  In  the 
main  this  is  true. 

But  there  is  another  branch  of  the  service,  without 
which  the  army  would  be  a  blind  giant,  striking  blows 
of  equal  weight  at  the  lion  and  the  mouse.  Ignorant 
of  the  topography  in  its  advance,  it  would  rush  into 
meshes  from  which  retreat  might  be  impossible,  and 
disaster  certain.  A  knowledge  of  the  country  is  es- 
sential to  a  general  commanding.  He  must  know  the 
strength,  and,  if  possible,  the  exact  position  and  in- 
tentions of  his  enemy.  Accurate  maps  of  State  and 
county  surveys  give  a  general  idea  of  the  topography, 
but  a  slight  elevation  at  a  certain  point,  a  clump  of 
timber  here,  a  ravine  there,  a  hill  or  a  creek  of  too 
small  import  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  civil  en- 
gineer, may  be  of  vital  importance  in  a  battle.  Even 
if  all  these  facts  were  known  to  an  advancing  anny, 
there  are  things  liable  to  change,  like  the  position  of 
a  confronting  army,  the  numbers,  the  bridges,  the 
state  of  the  roads,  and  other  things  equally  essential, 
which  the  commanding  officer  must  know  to  be  suc- 
cessful. The  best  way  to  develop  the  strength  of  an 
enemy  is  to  attack  him  ;  but  this  is  the  last  resort  if 
information  is  the  object,  for  it  is  always  apt  to  cost 
as  much  as,  and  sometimes  much  more  than,  the 
knowledge  is  worth. 

During  the  war  there  were  two  sources  of  information 


THE  UNRELIABLE  CONTRABAND.  20W 

which  our  generals  availed  themselves  of,  and  which 
may  be  called  the  regular  and  the  irregular.  Under 
the  head  of  the  irregular,  and  in  the  reverse  order 
of  importance,  may  be  named  the  following :  First, 
the  refugees,  who,  from  patriotic  or  selfish  motives, 
were  continually  pouring  into  our  lines  from  the  di- 
rection of  the  enemy.  They  were  generally  a  very 
ignorant  class  of  people,  with  false  ideas  of  distance 
and  exaggerated  notions  of  numbers.  If  a  refugee  said 
that  he  "  saw  with  his  own  eyes  an  army  of  fifty  thou- 
sand men  "  at  a  certain  place  and  marching  in  a  cer- 
tain direction,  it  might  generally  be  credited  that  the 
enemy  was  at  that  point,  and  marching  in  the  direc- 
tion named,  but  the  numbers  could  never  be  relied  on. 
Another  source  of  information  was  the  deserters,  who 
were  always  escapi^ig  to  our  lines — sometimes  south- 
em  Union  men,  sometimes  northern  men,  who,  resid- 
ing South  when  the  war  broke  out,  were  impressed  into 
the  rebel  service  ;  and  then  again  the  criminals  and 
unprincipled  dregs  of  the  southern  army,  escaping 
from  the  guard-hov^e  and  justice.  The  information 
'ihey  gave  had  to  l*^  weighed  and  sifted  with  great 
caution,  and  accept'td  in  proportion  to  the  intelligence 
of  the  informant  and  the  probable  cause  for  desertion. 
Indeed,  this  was  ope  of  the  safest  ways  to  get  a  spy 
into  the  opposing  lines,  though  deserters  were  guarded 
as  closely  as  prisoners.  Valuable  knowledge  of  the 
enemy  could  be  gained  by  comparing  the  examinations 
of  a  number  of  deserters,  but  as  a  rule  no  men  knew 
less  about  the  armies  on  either  side  than  the  great 
body  of  the  privates.  This  was  particularly  true  of 
the  rebels.  They  knew  the  strength  of  their  own 
companies  or  regiments,  and  the  brigade,  division,  and 
18* 


210  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

corps  to  which  they  belonged,  butbeyond  that,  nothing. 

No  person  was  the  object  of  so  much  ridicule  dur* 
ing  the  war  as  "  the  reliable  contraband,"  and  yet 
some  of  these  people  furnished  the  most  valuable  in- 
formation to  the  Union  generals.  As  a  rule  only  the 
most  intelligent  escaped  into  the  Federal  lines,  and 
they,  in  many  cases,  were  waiters  in  gentlemens'  fam- 
ilies or  officers'  servants.  The  negro  may  not  be  able 
to  perceive  ideas  or  analyze  motives  as  quickly  as  a 
white  man,  but  he  is  certainly  his  superior  in  the  mem- 
ory of  words  and  conversations.  So  far,  then,  as  the 
black  man  repeated  what  he  heard — and  one  ac- 
quainted with  those  people  could  easily  detect  any 
interpolations — his  statements  could  be  credited,  and 
the  fact  tiiat  he  heard  a  certain  person  say  so  might 
be  relied  on.  In  speaking  about  what  he  saw  himself 
there  was  the  same  tendency  to  exaggeration  in  the 
negro  as  in  the  white  refugee. 

Another  som*ce  of  information,  and  of  the  most 
valuable  kind,  was  that  obtained  from  captured  mails 
or  intercepted  dispatches.  The  supply  of  informa- 
tion from  the  sources  named  was  often  valuable,  but 
always  uncertain,  and  when  most  needed,  the  ene- 
my's lines  were  most  sti'ictly  guarded,  so  that  it  was 
difficut  to  pass  them.  Each  amiy,  however,  was  made 
independent  of  these  sources  of  supplying  informa- 
tion by  its  owii  organized  secret  service  corps — known 
in  the  army  but  little,  outside  of  the  army  not  at  all. 
So  when  a  citizen  read  of  a  victory  won,  he  never  for 
a  moment  thought  of  the  cool  daring  of  some  fearless 
Bcout  who  carried  from  the  enemy's  lines  the  secret  of 
his  weakness,  and  gave  half  the  victory  before  a  gun 
was  fired. 


THE  SCOUT  AND  THE  STY.  2n 

There  is  a  great  difference  bet'-veeii  the  sj  y  and  the 
scout  as  such.  The  scout  is  always  a  solder,  detailed 
by  virtue  of  his  knowledge  of  the  country  or  peculiar 
^itness  for  his  position.  He  is  usually  mounted  and 
always  armed.  He  operates  alone  or  wlih  his  com- 
panions on  the  front,  flanks,  and  often  the  rear  of  the 
enemy,  picking  up  stragglers,  capturing  niails,  inter- 
cepting dispatches,  burning  bridges,  and  frequently 
harassing  the  enemy  by  sudden  onsets  in  considerable 
numbers.  To  accomplish  a  dangerous  enterprise  the 
scouts  were  often  led  to  dress  in  the  most  ambiguous 
uniforms,  frequently  in  that  of  the  enemy,  though  any 
dress,  not  a  Federal  uniform,  could  be  made  to  pass 
for  that  of  a  rebel  soldier.  The  Union  scouts  were 
as  well  acquainted  with  the  regiments  and  brigades  of 
the  enemy  as  they  were  with  those  of  their  own  peo- 
ple, and  they  often  earned  passes  signed  by  rebel  offi- 
cers of  rank.  In  detailing  men  for  this  hazardous 
business,  courage  and  coolness  were  not  the  only  requi- 
sites ;  a  knowledge  of  the  country,  of  the  people,  of 
the  negro  character,  and  the  reproachful  terms  used 
against  the  Union  troops,  was  necessary.  The  best 
scouts  on  the  Union  side  were  southern  men,  or  men 
who  had  resided  long  enough  in  the  South  to  under- 
stand the  people.  To  the  eminently  successful  scout 
another  great  requisite  was  education,  so  that  he  might 
be  able  to  note  and  classify  every  fact  of  importance. 

The  spy  was  a  different  individual  as  a  rule.  He 
was  not  a  soldier,  for  no  officer  could  order  a  man  ta 
do  work  that  he  could  not  protect  him  in  if  captured. 
Many  w^ere  spies  from  the  noblest  motives,  but  the 
majority  were  prompted  by  that  love  of  reward  which 
leads  men  to  face  death  in  a  thousand  forms  in  the 


212  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

hope  of  gain.  He  assumed  the  garb  and  face  of  a 
friend.  He  blended  with  his  foes,  and  sometimes  oc- 
cupied some  civil  position  in  coimection  with  the  army. 
While  the  Union  army  had  a  fine  system  of  this  kind, 
it  was  very  imperfect  compared  with  the  efficiency  of 
the  rebel  secret  service.  The  spies  of  the  South  were 
posted  from  the  Gulf  to  the  White  House. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


THE   HOME   AT   GONZELLETTA. 

It  was  a  beautiful  evening  in  the  latter  part  of  June, 
1861,  and  Mrs.  Boardman  and  her  daughter  were 
seated  on  the  gallery,  as  when  our  story  begins.  They 
had  been  talking  about  the  death  of  Mr.  Warren  and 
the  sad  funeral  which  they  had  that  day  attended. 
They  wondered  where  Robert  was,  but  concluded  he 
had  reached  Kentucky,  as  the  efforts  to  capture  him, 
of  which  they  had  heard,  proved  fruitless.  Their  con- 
versation was  disturbed  by  the  arrival  of  Henderson 
Townsend,  whose  coarse,  cunning  face  was  not  made 
more  attractive  by  the  evident  good  humor  which  he 
felt.  Both  rose  and  bowed  coldly  as  he  ascended  the 
steps,  but  he  took  no  notice  of  their  manner.  Seating 
himself,  he  pulled  a  newspaper  from  his  pocket,  and, 
glancing  at  a  paragraph  which  was  made  conspicuous 
by  a  pencil  mark,  he  said,  as  his  greasy  face  opened 
in  the  form  of  laugh  without  a  sound, 

"I  have  some  news  here— news  about  Robert  War- 
ren !  Would  yeh  like  to  hear  it  ?"  Looking  at  Amy, 
he  continued,  "  Coz,  if  yeh  would,  sit  down  an  I'll  let 
yeh  read  it." 

"Amy's  face  grew  deathly  pale,  and  she  felt  giddy 
for  an  instant,  but,  recovering  herself,  she  sat  down 
beside  her  mother. 


214  WARKEX  OF  TEXAS. 

Mrs.  Boardman  took  her  daughter's  cold  hand  ia 
hers  and  said, 

"  Mr.  TovvQsend,  I  am  interested,  with  my  daugh- 
ter, in  Mr.  Warren,  and  should  be  pleased  to  hear 
any  good  news  you  have  to  bring  us." 

"Good  news  !"  chuckled  Townsend  ;  "Wall,  I  reckon 
it 's  jest  'bout  the  best  news  I  've  heard  for  many  a 
day.  Miss  Amy,  yeh  knows  I've  alius  been  your 
friend?" 

Townsend  tried  to  look  seriously  sentimental,  but 
succeeded  in  looking  stupid  and  brutal,  as  he  uttered 
his  assertion  in  the  tone  of  a  question. 

"  Please  let  that  go,  and  tell  us  what  you  know 
about  Mr.  Wan*en,"  said  Amy,  earnestly. 

"Wall,  now,  Miss  Amy,  Bob  Wan-en  was  n't  a  bad 
sort  of  a  feller.  Some  things  I  liked  'bout  him,  even 
if  he  did  try  ter  kill  me.  I  liked  him.  Miss  Amy,  on 
your  account,  particularly  since  yeh  ordered  me  out 
of  this  house.     I  ain't  been  in  since,  yeh  know." 

"  For  mercy's  sake,  Mr.  Townsend,  tell  me  what 
you  know.  Please  let  me  have  that  paper,"  and  Amy 
reached  out  her  hand  with  an  imploring  look. 

Townsend  held  the  paper  in  his  freckled  hand,  and, 
although  too  far  off  for  Amy  to  reach  it,  he  suddenly 
pulled  it  back,  and,  folding  it  up,  put  it  in  his  pocket. 

"  Miss  Amy,  I  '11  let  you  see  it  bimeby,  but  yeh 
knows  I  'm  yehr  friend,  and  do  n't  want  ter  give  yeh 
pain.  I  '11  let  yeh  see  it,  but  yeh  've  got  ter  answer 
a  question  first ;  will  yeh  ?" 

"Oh,  yes,  Mr.  Townsend,"  said  Amy,  earnestly; 
"  only  be  quick,  please  be  quick  !" 

"  Yes,  yehr  mighty  oneasy.  Miss  Amy,  I  see.  But 
supposin'  now  Ptobert  WaiTcn  should  n't  never  come 


THE  BRUTE  TOWNSEND.  215 

back,  siipposin'  he  was  drowned  and  I  could  prove  it, 
and  wuz  to  go  on  ter  Cadder  Lake,  and  bring  his 
body  home,  an'  bury  him  'long  side  the  ole  man, 
would  yeh  like  me  any  the  better  for  it?" 

Townsend  had  been  speaking  with  his  eyes  fixed 
on  the  lash  of  his  whip,  which  he  was  twisting  like  a 
snake  on  the  floor.  He  waited  for  an  answer  for  some 
seconds,  and  looking  up  he  saw  Amy's  face  pale  as 
death,  her  eyes  closed,  and  her  head  resting  on  her 
mother's  breast,  while  Mrs.  Boardman,  speechless 
with  alarm,  was  motioning  to  a  servant  who  stood  in 
the  door.  The  black  girl,  evidently  as  much  fright- 
ened as  Mrs.  Boardman,  expressed  her  feelings  in  a 
prolonged  scream,  as  she  saw  the  corpse-like  face  of 
her  young  mistress,  and  rushed  toward  her. 

Mrs.  Boardman  whispered  intensely, 

**  Quick,  Kitty  !  water !  bring  water !" 

Kitty's  scream  had  attracted  the  household,  and 
water  was  soon  procured,  and  the  fainting  girl  restored 
to  consciousness. 

As  she  opened  her  eyes  and  saw  the  anxious  face 
of  her  mother  above  her,  she  whispered, 

"  God  is  too  good.  I  can  't  believe  it.  Oh,  mother, 
you  do  n't  believe  it?" 

"No,  my  child;  I  can't  believe  it,"  and  Mrs. 
Boardman' s  eyes  did  not  corroborat'e  her  words,  for 
they  sought  the  paper  protruding  from  Townsend's 
pocket. 

Amy  saw  the  glance,  and  turned  to  Townsend,  who 
looked  frightened  and  guilty.  He  heard  what  she 
had  said,  and,  without  any  regard  for  her  feelings, 
and  a  vulgar  desire  to  confirm  what  he  had  hinted  at 
before,  he  stood  up,  drew  out  the  paper,  selected  the 


2^0  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

paragraph,  and  banded  it  to  Mrs.  Boardman.  Amy 
drew  it  down,  and  both  read  : 

"  Eetributive  Justice  !  Mr.  Rose,  while  hunt- 
ing on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake,  a  few  days  since, 
found  the  skeleton  of  a  horse,  and  several  articles  of 
clothing  that  had  evidently  been  washed  on  shore 
some  time  ago.  One  of  the  articles  was  a  shirt,  and 
was  marked  '  Robert  Warren.'  There  can  be  no  fur- 
ther doubt  about  the  fate  of  the  fugitives  who  were 
taken  to  the  island  by  that  renegade,  Tennessee,  last 
spring,  intending  to  secrete  them.  All  tliree  must 
have  perished  in  the  flood  that  seemed  sent  by  an 
avenging  God  to  destroy  men  fleeing  from  justice. 
Mr.  Rose  thinks  that  by  a  little  search  in  the  cane- 
brake  he  would  have  found  the  skeletons  ;  but  we  say 
let  them  rot  in  the  beds  of  the  alligators,  after  the 
buzzards  have  picked  the  bones,  and  let  our  feelings 
be  joy  that  justice  has  overtaken  villainy,  sorrow  that 
the  gallows  is  cheated." 

Both  read  the  paragi*aph  over,  then  re-read  it,  and 
Mrs.  Boardman  stooped  and  kissed  her  daughter. 
Then,  handing  Townseud  the  paper,  she  asked, 

"  Is  that  all  the  evidence  you  have  of  Robert  War- 
ren's death?" 

"Well,"  replied  Towusend,  "if  that  do  n't  satisfy 
you,  nothing  will,  'cept  fotchin'  the  skeleton  here  and 
showin*  it  ter  yeh." 

"  No,  sir ;  and  that  would  not  prove  the  identity  of 
the  skeleton.  Robert  Warren  was  used  to  floods.  He 
swam  the  San  Bernard  when  it  flowed  a  mile  wide. 
He  saved  Johnson — Cooper  Johnson — when  no  man 
would  venture  to  his  aid  on  the  Brazos.  Robert 
Warren  is  living,  and  you,  sir,  will  yet  see  hira  and 
know  it  to  your  cost." 


TOWI^SEND'S  X)ATH.  217 

Towiisend  grew  a  livid  ash  color,  as  Mrs.  Board- 
man's  ringing  voice  ceased,  and  be  managed  to 
stammer : 

**  I  don't  want  it  ter  be  true  ;  I  'd  rather  not  see 
Wan-en  dead." 

"  You  would  rather  not  see  him  dead?"  said  Amy, 
now  restored,  and  the  color  returning  to  her  cheeks. 
*'  You,  who  tried  like  a  cringing  coward  to  assassinate 
him  !  How  dare  you,  sir,  come  into  the  presence  of 
Robert  Warren's  friends  with  such  a  lie  in  your 
mouth?" 

Townsend  walked  backward  down  the  steps,  as  if 
to  be  prepared  for  some  attack,  and  when  he  reached 
his  horse  he  shouted  : 

"Do  yeh  both  see  these  eyes?"  drawing  his  hand 
across  them  as  if  to  point  out  the  location  of  his 
watery  vision.  *'  lliese  eyes,  so  help  me  God,  will  be 
blasted  and  dead  before  they  ever  rest  on  Bob  Warren!'* 

Townsend  uttered  these  words  with  a  fiendish 
energy,  that  sent  a  cold  thrill  through  the  ladies  and 
the  wondering  servants.  Then  he  mounted,  and, 
driving  his  spurs  into  his  mustang,  with  an  oath  that 
hissed  between  his  gi'itted  teeth,  he  galloped  for  the 
road. 

The  confident  tone,  assumed  before  Townsend,  van- 
ished on  his  disappearance,  and  tiU  long  after  dark 
both  mother  and  daughter  sat  on  the  gallery  express- 
ing hope  to  each  other,  which  their  own  hearts 
doubted,  and  forming  theories  to  account  for  the 
newspaper  article,  which  went  to  prove  that  the 
clothing  and  dead  horse  might  have  been  on  the 
shore  from  a  hundred  different  causes,  and  Robert 
and  his  friends  be  still  safe.  Yet  both  had  received 
19 


218  TTARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

a  terrible  blow,  and  were  more  than  half  prepared  for 
the  worst  that  might  follow. 

They  decided  to  say  nothing  abont  the  object  of 
To^\^lsend's  visit  to  Mrs.  Warren  or  Mary  for  the 
present.  The  death  of  Mr.  Warren,  though  expected 
for  some  weeks,  was  none  the  less  difficult  to  bear, 
and  even  the  black  shadow  of  this  late  loss  would  be 
more  than  they  could  endiu-e. 

During  the  long  summer  months  Mrs.  Boardman 
and  her  daughter  kept  their  secret,  and,  by  daily 
visits  and  constant  attentions,  they  were  a  great  bless- 
ing to  Mrs.  Warren  and  Mary. 

In  the  latter  part  of  September  a  visitor  called  on 
Mrs.  Warren.  He  was  a  short,  thick-set  man,  about 
fifty  years  of  age,  with  a  very  thick  neck,  in  whicb 
swelled  cords  could  be  seen  in  the  red  skin,  looking 
as  if  he  were  holding  his  breath  with  an  effort,  or  as 
if  the  black  silk  cravat,  folded  around  the  very  narrow 
collar,  were  choking  him.  His  mud-dark  eyes  would 
confirm  such  a  suspicion,  for  they  protruded  from  the 
sockets  as  if  about  to  pop  out.  His  chin  and  cheeks 
w^erc  beardless,  and  seemed  of  a  piece  and  color  with 
his  neck.  There  evidently  was  not  enough  skin  to 
cover  both  and  admit  of  any  curves  at  the  cheeks  or 
chin,  for  they  dropped  with  the  thick  neck  in  a 
straight  line.  He  wore  a  moustache,  that  bristled 
like  a  piece  of  decayed  blacking  bnish,  under  a  flat 
pug  nose,  with  two  large  nostrils,  that  looked  as  if 
they  terminated  in  a  very  black  cavern  in  the  back 
of  his  head.  He  wore  a  silk  hat,  very  high  and  nap- 
less, with  a  very  narrow  rim,  and  a  turret  of  very 
rusty  crape  above  it.  His  clothes  had  evidently  been 
made  when  he  was  much  more  slender,  for  his  arms 


"WILLIAM  WALLACE  GASTING,  ESQ."        219 

titted  iiis  coat  sleeves  like  smoked  blood  puddings, 
and  his  vraist  necessitated  two  loop  buttons,  that 
vainly  strove  to  bring  the  edges  of  his  coat  together 
over  his  protruding  stomach.  His  vest  had  an 
apparent  antipathy  to  his  pants,  and  crawled  up  under 
his  arms,  every  button  buttoned,  and  his  pants  recipro- 
cated, going  down  so  as  to  leave  a  very  wide  isthmus 
of  shirt  between  the  two.  His  legs  were  short  and 
badly  proportioned,  three-fom'ths  the  length  of  the 
sausage-looking  extremities  being  below  his  knees, 
where  they  terminated  in  a  pair  of  shoes  well  blacked, 
and,  judging  from  their  knotty,  irregular  shape  about 
the  toes,  their  owner  was  a  martyr  to  bunyons. 

This  was  "William  Wallace  Gasting,  esq..  Con- 
federate States  receiver  for  the  southern  counties  of 
Texas,  headquarters  Kichmond,  Fort  Bend  County." 

Mr.  Gasting  could  not  ride  on  horseback ;  no  man 
in  Texas  walks,  so  he  drove  about  in  a  buggy,  and 
thought  the  buggy  more  professional  for  a  lawyer. 
He  was  the  man  who  had  married  Mary's  New  Eng- 
land governess.  He  w^as  himself  from  Philadelphia, 
and  was  reputed  to  be  wealthy  in  cattle  and  slaves. 
In  '57  he  was  in  the  legislature,  but  all  previous 
honors  paled  before  the  new  one  conferred  upon  him 
by  the  Confederate  States  government. 

Mr.  Gasting  v/as  announced,  and  as  he  entered  the 
parlor  Mrs.  W^arren  rose  to  receive  him,  but  he  waived 
her  with  a  majestic  air  to  a  seat,  blew  his  nose  on  a 
flaming  red  handkerchief  with  a  sound  like  the  first 
two  notes  of  a  cavalry  charge.  Then  running  two 
fingers  around  between  his  throat  and  his  collar,  and 
stretching  up  his  neck  as  if  he  wished  to  crawl  out  of 
his  wrapping,  like  a  very  large  turtle  in  a  very  small 


220  "WARREN   OF  TEXAS. 

shell,  Mr.  Gasting  coughed,  sat  down,  with  his  ivory- 
headed  cane  between  his  legs,  and  his  hat  on  top  of 
his  cane,  and  fumbled  with  his  disengaged  hand  in 
his  breast  coat  pocket.  William  Wallace  Gasting 
spoke  in  a  voice  that  was  very  sharp  and  thin,  sound- 
ing as  if  it  originated  in  the  back  part  of  his  mouth, 
his  thick  throat  being  too  full  to  admit  even  a  sound 
without  bursting : 

*'  Mrs.  Warren,  I  visit  you  to-day  on  strictly  profes- 
sional business,  madam.  Very  sorry  that  sympathies 
and  duties  should  be  antagonistic." 

Mr.  Gasting  struggled  with  his  necktie  and  looked 
at  Mrs,  Warren  as  if  he  expected  her  to  say  some- 
thing, and  seeing  that  she  was  about  to  say  something, 
he  sympathetically  cleared  his  own  throat  by  another 
little  cough. 

*'  What  may  be  your  pleasure  in  visiting  me  profes- 
sionally, Mr.  Gasting?"  asked  Mrs.  Warren,  as  Mary, 
in  her  mourning  dress,  entered  the  room. 

**  1  have  no  pleasure  of  my  own,  madam.  I  am  the 
servant  of  the  country.  I  come  to  obey  the  mandates 
of  my  superiors,  and  to  do  that  well  will  ever  be  my 
greatest  pleasure." 

Mr.  Gasting  struggled  with  his  cravat,  and  turned 
his  protruding  eyes  inquiringly  on  IMrs.  Warren  as  he 
concluded  this  patrotic  speech. 

"  And  what  are  the  mandates  of  your  superiors  that 
you  should  come  to  my  house  professionally,  Mr.  Gast- 
ing?" 

*'To  your  house?  Did  I  understand  you  to  say  to 
your  house,  madam?" 

Seeing  that  Mr.  Gasting  needed  a  reply,  from  his 
violent  struggles,  Mrs.  Warren  intimated  that  sh« 
meant  "her  house." 


CONFISCATION.  221 

"  I  did  not  come  to  your  house,  madam !  This 
abode  and  the  surrounding  property,  lately  in  the 
ownership  of  Eobert  "Warren,  senior,  now  deceased, 
and  bequeathed  to  his  son  Robert,  excepting  the 
widow's  dower,  is  by  me  declared  confiscated  to  the 
Confederate  States  government,  whose  receiver  I  am 
for  the  southern  district  of  Texas." 

Mr.  Grasting  felt  easier  after  this,  for  he  coughed, 
walked  to  the  window  and  spit  out  on  the  gallery  ;  then 
WTiggling  his  neck  through  his  collar,  he  sat  down. 

Mrs.  Warren,  with  her  v/hite,  thin  hands  clasped  on 
her  knees,  looked  at  Mr.  Gasting  without  uttering  a 
word.  That  gentleman  waited  till  the  silence  became 
painful,  when  he  continued : 

"  Our  government,  madam,  in  its  magnanimity,  has 
decided  that  those  who  sympathize  with  the  fanatics 
of  the  North  shall  receive  safe  conduct  across  the  lines. 
At  the  same  time  it  has  wisely  concluded  to  seize  for 
its  own  use  such  houses,  lands,  or  other  real  property 
as  the  person  may  be  possessed  of  in  the  limits  of  the 
Confederate  States,  and  any  debts  owed  to  such  per- 
sons by  any  citizen  of  the  Confederate  States  must 
hereafter  be  paid  to  the  Confederate  States  receiver, 
and  any  money  owed  to  parties  North  is  also  confis- 
cated for  the  use  of  the  aforesaid  Confederate  States." 

"  Do  I  understand,  Mr.  Gasting,  that  you  are  author- 
ized to  turn  me  out  of  my  house  simply  because  my 
deceased  husband  and  fugitive  son  sided  with  their 
country?"  asked  Mrs.  Warren,  in  a  calm  voice,  with 
her  dark  eyes  turned  on  Mr.  Gasting. 

"Madam,  you  are  naturally  prejudiced  in  favor  of 
your  husband  and  son.     You  do  not  comprehend  the 
onenses  of  which  the  nation  judges  them  guilty.    The 
19* 


222  T\^ARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

law  is  inflexible."  Mr.  Gasting  struggled  with  his 
necktie  and  coughed  till  the  veins  stood  like  cords  on 
his  fat  forehead. 

In  the  same  quiet  voice,  Mrs.  Warren  said : 

"  Mr.  Gasting,  I  always  thought  a  trial  was  neces- 
sary before  a  person  was  judged  guilty.  I  have  no 
power  to  oppose  you  ;  I  can  only  say  that  one-lmif  the 
land  comprising  Mr.  Warren's  estate  belongs  to  my 
daughter  Mary,  and  one-half  the  people  on  this  place. 
Consequently  you  can  only  confiscate  my  son's  half." 

"Very  true,  madam;  but  your  son's  half  includes 
the  cultivated  portion  of  the  plantation,  on  which  this 
house  stands.  I  might  sieze  all  the  rest,  for  in  my 
opinion  your  husband  could  not  make  a  will  after  the 
passage  of  the  act  of  confiscation.  The  regard  my 
wife  bears  your  daughter,  however,  prompts  me  to 
step  from  the  line  of  duty  and  accept  Mr.  WaiTen's 
will,  as  recently  admitted  to  piobate.  The  personal 
property,  included  by  the  worda  household  furniture, 
I  think  you  can  retain." 

Mr.  Gasting  straightened  up  and  tried  to  look  phi- 
lanthropic, and  concluded  by  adjusting  the  flimsy  line 
of  collar  squeezed  above  the  black  cravat. 

"How  long  can  we  remain  here,  sir?'*  asked  Mrs. 
Wan-en,  a  perceptible  tremor  in  her  voice. 

"  One  week,  madam,  or  till  after  the  sale,"  said 
Mr.  Gasting.  Then  taking  from  his  pocket  a  brown 
envelope,  with  a  red  seal  at  each  comer  and  one  in 
the  middle,  he  handed  it  to  Mrs.Warren,  informing 
her  it  w^as  his  commission  as  "  Confederate  States 
receiver."  She  held  it  in  her  hand  and  looked  at 
him,  while  he  scood  up  and  coughed  v/ith  more  than 
usunl  importance  and  looked  more  than  usually  red. 


"  THE  BLACK,  COLD  FUTUKE.' '  223 

Then  he  spoke  with  greater  deliberation,  looking  around 
him  all  the  time,  as  if  addressing  a  large  audience. 

"T,  "William  Wallace  Gasting,  Confederate  States 
receiver  for  the  Southern  district  of  the  State  of 
Texas,  by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested,  do  now 
and  hereby  seize,  for  the  sole  use  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America,  the  houses,  lands,  negroes,  cattle, 
and  all  other  property  whatsoever,  bequeathed  to 
Kobert  Warren,  junior,  by  his  father,  Robert  Warren, 
senior ;  and  I  do  further  declare  that,  on  the  first 
Monday  in  October,  proximo,  I  will  sell  all  such 
property,  at  public  auction,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Confederate  States  before  named." 

Mr.  Gasting  took  his  hat  off  his  stick  and  coughed 
himself  purple.  He  looked  at  Mrs.  Warren  as  if  he 
wished  her  to  speak,  but  her  white,  thin  hands  were 
still  clasped  on  her  black  dress  and  her  eyes  cast  on 
the  ground.  Mr.  Gasting  turned  and  said  :  "  Good 
day,  madam,"  and  Mrs.  Warren  whispered  "  Good 
day,"  while  the  Confederate  States  receiver  hurried 
to  his  buggy  with  the  air  of  a  man  who  had  just  per- 
formed a  most  praiseworthy  act. 

With  Mr.  Warren  dead  and  Robert  unheard  from  ; 
with  their  once  happy  home  torn  from  them,  and 
the  black,  cold  future  before  them,  the  mother  and 
daughter  sat  in  the  room  for  some  minutes  without 
speaking.  They  were  crushed  ;  and  as  Mrs.  Warren 
realized  the  utter  loneliness  of  her  position,  in  a  low 
wail,  she  called  out : 

"  Oh,  my  God !  my  God  !  take  me,  take  me  !" 

Mary  rose  quickly  and  clasped  her  mother  to  her 
breast,  and  the  kiss  of  the  loving  daughter  opened 
the  fountains  of  the  aching  heart,  and  both  v/omen 
minded  their  tears,  and  each  triel  to  chser  the  othor. 


CHAPTEE  XXIII 


THE  FOUR  WOiyiEN  IN  COUNCIL. 

About  an  hour  after  Mr.  Gasting  left,  Mrs.  Board- 
man  and  Amy  came  over  to  Mrs.  Warren's  on  their 
daily  visit.  Mrs.  Boardman  was  astonished  to  see 
the  fresh  evidences  of  grief  on  the  faces  of  her 
friends,  and  at  first  feared  that  Mrs.  Warren  might 
have  heard  the  story  about  Robert's  death.  She 
soon  learned  the  true  state  of  the  case,  and,  though 
she  felt  keenly  for  her  friend,  she  was  rejoiced  that  it 
was  no  worse.  She  had  long  desired  to  have  Mrs. 
Warren  and  Mary  with  her,  and  now  she  would  have 
an  opportunity  to  carry  out  her  plans.  Amy  was 
much  more  excited,  and  felt  like  declaring  war  upon 
Mr.  G-asting  at  once,  for  she  said  : 

"Don't  give  up  the  place,  Mrs.  Warren.  Stay  here, 
and  mother  and  I  will  remain  with  you ;  and  if  that 
hideous  Gasting  comes  again  we  will  put  him  out. 
He  must  not  take  your  home  and  break  your  heart, 
and  rob  Robert." 

Amy  might  have  continued  in  this  excited  strain 
had  not  her  sobs  choked  her  utterance,  and  tears 
come  to  her  relief. 

"  It  will  do  no  good  to  oppose  them,  dear  Amy," 
said  Mrs.  Warren  in  a  sad  tone  ;  "we  are  only  women, 
and  if  you  and  your  mother  took  decided  action  in  ray 
behalf  it  might  result  in  the  loss  of  your  own  home." 


OLD  TOWNSJEND.,  225 

''Let  them  take  it  if  they  dare !"  said  the  spirited 
girL  "Robert  will  be  back  sood,  and  then  I  do  not 
think  they  will  wish  to  retain  what  they  have  stolen." 

IMrs.  Boardman  laid  her  hand  with  a  gentle  restraint 
upon  Amy's  arm  and  said  : 

"My  dear  Mrs.  Warren,  I  have  long  wished  that 
we  might  live  all  together  till  after  the  war,  but  I  did 
not  ask  you  while  I  knew  there  were  so  many  cares  to 
detain  you  here.  I  cannot  think  it  wise  to  oppose 
those  people  in  any  way  ;  so  get  everything  you  de- 
sire to  move  in  readiness,  and  send  them  to  my  house, 
and  then  come  yourself.  It  is  your  only  alternative, 
for  I  am  sure  that  heartless  man,  Gasting,  will  insist 
on  an  immediate  sale." 

Mary  thanked  Mrs.  Boardman  and  agreed  that  her 
suggestion  was  best.  Mrs.  Warren  also  consented, 
and  promised  to  make  preparations  at  once. 

During  the  following  week  all  the  plate  and  more 
valuable  furnitm-e  were  moved  to  Mrs.  Boardman's, 
and  Mrs.  Warren  and  Mary  only  waited  for  the  sale 
in  order  to  leave.  In  the  meantime  a  number  of  men 
from  Houston  had  called  to  examine  the  property  and 
ask  questions  about  the  hands,  the  stock,  and  other 
purchasable  articles.  Mrs.  Warren  treated  them 
with  her  usual  courtesy  and  dignity,  though  it  required 
a  great  deal  of  control  to  meet  old  Mr.  Townsend. 
He  was  a  long,  cadaverous-looking  man,  with  grey 
eyes  and  lantern  jaws,  and  a  disagreeable  whine,  with 
which  he  closed  a  sentence  with  the  words  "Sure  as 
I  live,"  or  "I  don't  prevaricate — honest." 

Townsend  owned  a  fine  cotton  plantation  up  the 
river,  and,  with  his  fifty  slaves  and  eight  thousand 
homed  cattle,  was  considered  wealthy.    Rough  and 


226  WARREN"  OF  TEXAS. 

imeducatecl,  he  had  great  natural  shrewdness,  and  he 
boasted  with  truth  that  he  never  lost  in  a  bargain. 
As  soon  as  the  confiscation  act  was  passed,  he  looked 
greedily  on  the  rich  plantation  and  splendid  improve- 
ments of  "  the  Warren  place,"  and  determined  if  it 
w^as  offered  for  sale  to  be  the  purchaser.  Among 
many  people  in  the  section  there  was  a  strong  desire 
not  to  trouble  Mrs.  "Warren  or  her  daughter,  but  to 
let  them  remain  quietly  in  possession  of  their  home. 
But  both  the  Townsends  kept  alive  the  old  wounds, 
and  invented  lies  to  turn  the  people  against  the  War- 
rens, and  in  this  they  were  to  a  great  extent  success- 
ful. The  elder  Townsend  learned  with  unfeigned 
pleasure  of  the  confiscation  of  Robert  Warren's  prop- 
erty, for  it  gratified  his  hatred  for  the  man,  and  more 
than  this,  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  better  his  con- 
dition in  the  world.  His  own  place  was  valuable,  but 
he  could  not  retain  it  and  purchase  the  Warren  plan- 
tation. He  did  what  a  shrewd  business  man  would 
have  done  under  the  circumstances,  he  sold  his  own 
place  and  parted  with  his  stock  in  order  to  secure  a 
property  infinitely  more  valuable.  Learning  that 
others  had  been  looking  for  the  property,  he  frightened 
them  off  by  showing  that  in  case  the  Yankees  were 
successful  the  sale  would  be  worthless  and  the  money 
lost ;  but  while  he  spoke  of  this  risk  to  others  he 
never  for  a  moment  permitted  himself  to  doubt  the 
success  of  the  southern  cause.  Consequently,  when 
the  day  for  the  sale  came  Mr.  Townsend  had  few  com- 
petitors, and  with  the  exception  of  a  few  of  the  older 
hands,  he  succeeded  in  becoming  the  owner  of  the 
Warren  plantation,  and  master  of  nearly  three  hundred 
Blaves — among  them  Susey  and  "the  pickaninnies." 


MARY'S  DETERMINATION.  227 

Mrs.  Boardman  and  Amy  did  everything  for  thf* 
comfort  of  their  friends,  and  Mrs.  Warren  in  a  few 
weeks  began  to  improve  under  their  loving  care,  but 
Mary  became  more  pale  and  thoughtful ;  she  would 
often  sit  with  her  hands  clasped  before  her,  gazing 
across  the  prairie  to  the  old  home,  and  looking  at 
times  as  if  her  thoughts  were  far  away  from  Texas 
and  the  world. 

One  evening  as  they  sat  at  tea,  Mary  startled  her 
hearers  by  saying :  "  I  have  an  unaccountable  desire 
to  leave  here  and  go  to  Kentucky.  I  have  been  think- 
ing about  it  ever  since  Gasting's  first  visit.  You  re- 
member, mother,  he  said  that  those  desiring  to  go 
North  would  be  passed  safely  through  the  lines.  Of 
course  you  could  not  go.  You  will  be  perfectly  safe 
with  Mrs.  Boardman,  and  I  feel  as  if  this  life  of  act- 
less  suspense  would  kill  me." 

For  a  few  seconds  the  little  party  was  struck  mute 
by  this  propostion  of  Mary  ;  then  Mrs.  Boardman  said : 

"Why,  you  silly  child,  it  can't  be  thought  of  for  an 
instant,"  and  Mrs.  Warren,  dropping  her  fork,  looked 
over  at  Mary  with  a  startled  expression,  and  said : 
"  My  daughter,  you  are  all  I  have  in  the  world  ;  don't 
leave  me  ;  I  can't  give  you  up."  The  warm-hearted, 
impetuous  Amy  sprang  from  her  seat  and  rushing  over 
to  her  young  friend,  knelt  beside  her,  and  putting  her 
arms  around  Mary's  waist,  she  said  : 

"No,  no,  Mary!  you  must  not  leave  us.  Don't  I 
love  you?  Yes,  we  all  love  you,  and  want  to  see  you 
happy." 

Mary  stooped,  and,  parting  the  brown  hair,  kissed 
Amy's  white  forehead,  saying  : 

"  My  darling  sister,  what  could  induce  me  to  doubt 


228  WAKREN  OF  TEXAS. 

your  love?  This  desire  to  leave  is  not  an  impulse, 
I  have  thought  it  all  over,  and  feel  it  to  he  a  sacred 
duty.  Now,  mother,  do  not  look  surprised.  Let  me  ex- 
plain. Here  day  after  day  I  feel  the  desire  to  do 
something  befitting  a  woman  in  this  war.  I  wish  it 
were  womanly  to  risk  my  life  that  the  war  might 
close  the  sooner,  but  it  is  not.  I  remember  how  no- 
bly Florence  Nightingale  worked  for  the  sick  an^ 
"wounded  Crimean  soldiers,  and  what  a  noble  influence 
her  very  presence  must  have  had  upon  them.  Now  we 
all  get  to  picturing  possibilities  to  ourselves  at  times. 
I  do  by  day,  and  I  dream  the  same  by  night.  Last 
night  in  my  sleep  I  saw  Robert  carried  by  four  men, 
and  his  eyes  were  closed  and  the  blood  dripped  from 
his  breast.  I  thought  I  asked  one  of  the  men  if  Rob- 
ert was  dead,  and  he  said  "no  my  lady,  but  fearfully 
wounded ;  he  wants  a  kind  hand  to  nm-se  him — come 
with  us."  I  woke  terribly  frightened,  and  I  clasped 
my  hands  and  asked  God  to  guide  me,  and  when  I 
slept  again  I  heard  that  tall  soldier's  voice  saying 
"Come,  come.'* 

This  statement  of  Mary  had  a  strange  effect  on  the 
little  audience.  The  tears  stole  quietly  down  Mrs. 
Warren's  cheeks,  and  Mrs.  Boardman  fidgeted  ner- 
vously with  her  handkerchief,  while  Amy  rose  and 
walked  thoughtfully  to  the  window.  The  silence 
might  have  continued  some  time,  had  not  Amy  pro- 
posed that  they  should  go  out  on  the  gallery.  Hardly 
had  they  been  seated  outside,  than  Mrs.  Warren  sug- 
gested a  difficulty  which  Mary  had  not  foreseen  ;  she 
said  : 

"My  daughter,  I  would  be  willing  to  give  you  up 
if  I  thought  you  could  reach,  in  safety,  some  place 


DEVISING  WAYS  AND  MEANS.  229 

where  there  are  hospitals,  but  this  to  me  is  doubtful. 
However,  the  greatest  difficulty  in  the  way  is  the  waut 
of  means,  I  know  very  little  about  the  investments 
of  ^our  father,  even  if  they  were  available,  and  I  do 
not  think  I  have  more  than  one  hundred  dollars  in 
money,  and  this  is  much  too  small  a  sum  for  you  to 
undertake  your  journey  on." 

Mrs.  Boardman  drew  nearer  to  Mary  and  said,  *'My 
dear  child,  I  appreciate  yoiu*  motives  very  much,  and 
under  the  circumstances,  if  assured  of  your  safety,  I 
would  be  willing  to  let  you  go.  Unfortunately  at  this 
time  I  am  very  short  of  money.  I  cannot  realize 
now  on  the  cotton  which  is  being  gathered,  and  Mr. 
Grilles,  my  Gralveston  agent,  did  not  sell  my  last  year's 
crop,  for  motives  that  to  him  seemed  prudent.  I  can 
get  you,  if  you  persist  in  going,  a  few  hundred  dollars  ; 
you  should  have,  however,  fully  one  thousand." 

While  they  were  talking  darkness  came  on,  and 
unperceived  a  black  woman  came  up  the  road  and 
stood  beside  Mary  on  the  gallery.  She  might  have 
stood  for  wme  ^ime  unnoticed  had  not  her  sobs  at- 
tracted Jfary's  attention,  and  she  turned  to  take 
Susey's  black  hand,  and  to  receive  on  her  own  the 
tears  and  kisses  of  the  faithful  servant. 

* '  Oh,  Miss  Mary  ! "  she  began,  "I  'se  mighty  glad 
to  see  yell.  'Pears  like  an  age  since  yeh  luffed  de 
house,  an'  all 's  berry  lonely  now,  Miss  Mary."  Susey 
kissed  the  hand  of  her  young  mistress  again,  and  then 
went  over  to  Mrs.  Warren  and  said  :  ' '  Miss  Ellen, 
how  's  yeh?  Strong,  I  hope,  an'  a  trustin'  in  de 
Lor'." 

Mrs.  Warren  assured  her  that  she  was  feeling  better, 
and  that  she  looked  to  God  for  comfort. 

20 


230  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"How  are  the  people  getting  on,  Susey,  under  Mr. 
Townsend?"  asked  Mary. 

"Dey's  doin'  well  's  kin  be  'spected,  Miss.  Mauss 
Townsend  tole  Dolp  yesterday  that  Mr.  Gasting  had 
bought  his  old  place,  an'  that  he  was  agoin'  to  sell  all 
de  bans  what  did  n't  do  well." 

"  I  hope,  under  those  circumstances,"  said  Mary, 
"that  the  people  will  be  careful,  for  I  have  no  doubt 
Mr.  Townsend  means  what  he  said." 

*'  Yeh  ain't  heerd  nothin*  from  Mauss  Robut  an'  de 
pickanins,  hes  yeh?"  asked  Susey. 

"Nothing,"  said  Mary,  "but  I  feel  confident  Rob- 
ert will  come  back  before  very  long,  and  we  will 
return  to  the  old  home,"  said  Mary. 

"But,  Miss  Mary,  Archy  '11  be  back  too,  won't 
he?"  asked  Susey  in  a  supplicating  tone. 

"Oh,  yes,  Susey,  Archy  will  of  course  return  with 
his  master." 

"Then,"  said  Susey,  "my  heart  '11  larf  wid  joy,  an' 
de  pickaninnies  will  meet  him  at  de  doah," 

Mary  then  took  Susey  to  the  end  of  the  gallery  and 
told  her  of  her  intention  to  leave,  and  seek  out  Rob- 
ert, at  the  same  time  explaining  the  great  difficulty 
arising  from  the  want  of  money. 

"  Miss  Mary,"  said  Susey,  "Yeh  knows  I  love  yeh 
like  my  own  soul.'* 

"I  know  that,  Susey,"  said  Mary,  laying  her  hand 
on  the  black  arm  of  her  late  servant. 

"Well,  Miss  Mary,"  continued  Susey,  "I  did  *nt 
know  yeh  was  agoin'  to  leave,  but  I  know  'd  yeh 
must  n't  have  much  money.  Jes'  afore  Archy  left, 
ole  mauss  gave  him  a  lot  of  money,  an'  Archy  says 
to  me,  'Susey,  dar's  more  'n  I  want;  take  de  half, 
yeb  may  want  it,  poor  chile.'     So  I  took  it,  an'  I  'se 


TUE  STOCKING  OF  GOLD.  231 

alius  carried  it  here  in  my  breast,  Miss  Mary,  more 
far  Archy  like.  An' when  I  come'd  over  to-day,  I 
was  agoin'  to  give  it  to  yeh.  No'.v,  Miss  Mary,  I 
wants  yeh  to  take  it.  Do  n't  say  nothin',  it 's  all  fur 
you,"  and  Susey  took  the  two  hundred  dollars  in 
gold  from  her  breast  and  forced  it  into  her  young  mis- 
tress's hand. 

"Why,  Susey,  I  cannot  take  your  money.  Keep 
it ;  no  doubt  if  Mr.  Townsend  remains  your  master 
you  Avill  need  it  before  long,"  said  Mary,  handing 
back  the  cotton  stocking  in  which  Susey  had  rolled 
the  money. 

"  No,  please,  Miss  Mary.  Oh,  do  take  it  and  use  it. 
Yeh  can  get  it  all  back  fur  me  when  Mauss  Robut 
an'  Archy  comes  back.  Heah,  Miss,  do  please  take 
it  from  Aunt  Susey,"  and  the  black  woman  forced 
back  the  money  with  an  earnest  pressure  into  the 
hand  of  her  young  mistress,  adding,  "May  de  good 
Lor'  bless  yeh.  Miss  Mary,  and  may  we  be  happy 
agin  in  de  ole  home."  So  saying,  Susey  again 
kissed  the  white  hand,  and  bidding  the  others  good- 
bye, hurriedly  left  the  gallery  and  walked  out  the 
straight  road  across  the  prairie. 

During  this  time  Texas  was  free  from  the  dangers 
and  excitements  incident  to  the  States  east  of  the 
Mississippi.  At  times  there  were  rumors  of  the  Yan- 
kee fleets  attacking  Galveston,  or  landing  large 
armies  on  some  other  point  of  the  coast.  While 
thefe  were  thousands  of  Union  men  in  the  State,  not 
one  dared,  after  the  secession,  to  speak  his  sentiments 
Hamilton,  Anderson,  and  other  leaders  had  fled.  Hun- 
dreds had  been  hung  or  died  in  prison,  and  thus  forced 
by  public  opinion  into  the  Confederate  armies.  The 
business  of  the  State  was  not  suspended,  for  a  large 


232  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

trade  v/as  carried  on  with  Mexico,  and  geld  was 
always  in  circulation  in  the  State.  Long  trains  laden 
with  cotton  were  daily  sent  to  Brownsville  on  the 
Rio  Grande,  and  returned,  laden  with  foreign  supplies 
to  Houston.  iV  remarkable  feature  in  this  business  was 
that,  while  many  of  the  goods  were  intended  for 
Louisiana  and  States  even  across  the  Mississippi,  where 
salt,  leather,  and  medicine  were  needed,  still  the 
greater  part  of  the  supplies  imported  into  Texas — and 
the  same  is  true  of  every  southern  State — were  the 
luxuries,  like  wines,  silks,  perfumes,  and  the  latest 
fashionable  apparel  for  ladies.  The  Confederate 
States  government  knew  this  tendency  of  the  people, 
and  enacted  laws  controlling  imports. 

A  week  rolled  by  after  Mary  had  announced  her 
intention  to  leave  Texas,  and  nearly  every  hour  in 
the  day  the  subject  which  engrossed  her  constant 
thoughts  was  reverted  to.  Mrs.  Boardman  became 
convinced  at  last  that  it  would  be  better  to  let  Mary 
go,  and  to  this  Mrs.  Warren  and  Amy  finally  assented, 
and  plans  were  considered  foriier  journey. 

At  that  time  a  journey  to  Tennessee  or  Kentucky 
would  have  been  no  ordinary  undertaking  for  even  a 
strong  man,  and  it  was  much  more  difficult  for  a  young 
girl  who  had  never  learned  even  to  help  herself.  One 
thousand  miles  to  where  the  Union  armies  were— a 
long  journey  even  with  every  facility.  But  the  block- 
ade had  stopped  the  steamers  from  Galveston  to  New 
Orleans,  and  there  was  no  continued  railroad  commu- 
nication wi4h  any  of  the  Mississippi  towns.  Lideed 
there  was  no  line  of  stages  running  to  the  river,  and 
a  traveler  would  be  compelled  to  hire  private  convey- 
ances the  greater  part  of  the  distance.  But  there 
was  a  will  and  a  way. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


THE  JOURNEY    TO    TENNESSEE. 

Mary  had  fully  determined  to  carry  out  her  plans, 
and  her  friends  ceased  to  offer  opposition.  Prepara- 
tions were  made  for  the  journey,  and  the  four  ladies 
for  days  consulted  the  large  map  of  the  United  States 
hanging  in  the  library.  Never  did  generals  in  a 
council  of  war  more  carefully  consider  the  advantages 
and  disadvantages  of  every  suggested  plan.  After 
much  study  it  was  decided  that  the  best  course  lay 
through  the  range  of  the  Sabine  River,  thence  through 
Louisiana  to  the  Mississippi,  and  up  the  Mississippi 
to  Yicksbiu-g  or  Memphis.  One  trunk  was  considered 
enough,  and  i;  was  agreed  that  she  should  take,  for 
appearance  sake  and  assistance,  one  of  Mrs.  Board- 
man's  servants,  a  stout  boy  named  Tom,  about  four- 
teen years  of  age.  Amy  insisted  on  accompanying 
her  friend  to  Orange,  which  was  the  terminus  of  the 
railroad  running  east  from  Houston. 

It  was  difficult  for  both  Mrs.  WaiTcn  and  Mary  to 
part.  They  had  never  been  separated,  and  yet  the 
blow  was  not  so  hard  as  if  it  had  been  the  first,  for 
gradually  the  heart  becomes  acquainted  with  sorrow. 
It  was  eight  miles  to  Columbia,  on  the  Brazos,  where 
they  were  to  take  the  cars  for  Houston,  and  the  car- 
riage was  waiting  and  the  farewells  uttered  with  sobs, 
20* 


234  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

when  Susey  appeared,  out  of  breath,  to  bid  her  young 
mistress  good-bye. 

"  Oh,  Miss  Mary,  if  I  could  only  go  'long  to  keer  fur 
an'  watch  yth,  an'  to  see  Archy  an'  Mauss  Kobut." 

"Don't  fret,  Susey,"  said  Mary,  the  tears  flowing 
down  her  own  cheeks.  "  I  will  come  back  before  lone: 
with  Robert  and  Archy,  and  we  will  all  live  happily  in 
the  old  home." 

"  Oh,  I  prays  de  Lor'  fur  dat.  Come  soon,  or  I  can't 
lib.  Yesterday,  Mauss  Townsend  whipped  me  kase  I 
spoke  'bout  de  ole  mauss,  an'  I  'se  so  sore  I  can't  stan' 
skeerce."  Then  changing  her  tone,  she  said:  "But 
whin  yeh  sees  Archy,  don't  tell  him,  miss.  Jes'  say 
Susey  's  well,  an'  de  pickaninnies  is  awaitin'.  An', 
Miss  Mary,  if  't  ain't  no  trubbel,  jes'  gib  Arcliy  dese 
socks,  an'  say  I  knit  'em  at  night  whin  de  chillen  wuz 
a-sleepin'." 

Mary  promised  to  take  the  socks  to  Archy.  Fare- 
wells were  given  again,  and  the  carriage  rolled  over 
the  prairie,  and  Mrs.  Warren,  on  the  gallery,  gave  full 
vent  to  her  suppressed  grief. 

So  busy  were  the  girls  with  their  owtj  thoughts  that 
but  little  was  said  as  the  carnage  dashed  along  to 
Columbia.  A  few  miles  below  the  tov/n  they  struck 
the  muddy,  winding  Brazos,  with  its  sleepy  waters  and 
steep  clay  banks,  covered  with  a  dense  and  tropical 
vegetation. 

Reaching  Columbia,  a  straggling  village  of  some 
six  hundred  inhabitants,  they  learned  from  Mr.  Cole, 
a  kind-hearted  merchant,  that  it  would  be  necessary 
to  have  passes,  and  these  he  promised  to  secure  from 
the  provost  marshal,  a  man  named  Church. 

The  people  who  fought  in  the  South  v;ere  southern 


DOUGHFACES— EN  ROUTE.  235 

men  by  birth,  or  espoused  the  cause  from  principle. 
The  majority  of  the  military  non-combatants  were 
northern  men,  and  they  were  quartermasters,  purvey- 
ors, or  provost  marshals  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten.  It 
was  a  safe  way  of  showing  their  love  for  the  Confed- 
eracy. Mr.  Church  was  no  exception  to  the  rule  ;  he 
was  a  Yankee  by  birth  and  a  southern  man  from  sel- 
fish motives.  He  would  have  been  a  cannibal,  with 
his  relatives  for  victims,  had  it  paid. 

After  much  trouble  the  conscientious  marshal  was 
induced  to  give  the  two  young  ladies  passes  to  Orange 
and  back,  to  expire  in  four  days,  and  he  charged  them 
for  his  generosity  the  moderate  sum  of  ten  dollars. 
By  11  o'clock  in  the  morning  they  dismissed  the  car- 
riage, crossed  the  ferry  to  the  railroad  station,  secured 
tickets  for  themselves  and  Tom,  and  took  seats  in  the 
very  shabby  and  dilapidated  car  which  was  supposed 
to  be  "reserved  for  ladies,"  but  into  vvdiich,  as  a  con- 
sequence, all  the  men  without  ladies  crowded. 

The  railroad  to  Houston  was  never  a  good  one, 
owing  to  the  scarcity  of  stone  or  gTavel  in  that  region 
for  ballast.  Since  the  v/ar  it  was  particularly  bad, 
and  the  greatest  speed  the  cars  dared  make  on  it  in 
dry  weather  was  eight  miles  an  hour.  Frequently  the 
train  was  detained  while  the  black  brakesmen  cut 
wood  for  the  locomotive,  or  carried  up  water  in  buck- 
ets from  some  muddy  bayou  to  the  tender.  It  was  very 
tiresome  going  the  sixty-three  miles  to  Houston,  and 
Mary  ventured  to  ask  an  old  gentleman  who  sat  behind 
her  at  v/hat  time  he  thought  they  would  reach  Hou;^ton. 
The  old  gentleman  spit  out  of  the  window  to  clear 
his  mouth,  and  wiping  his  grey  beard  with  his  coat 
sleeve,  said : 


tS6  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

'*  V.,*' .  miss,  that  depcn's  on  circumstances.  They 
have  a  uotv  set  of  han's  on  this  train,  an'  they  are 
doin'  right  well,  I  think,  but  the  ole  han's  used  to 
stop  to  chisc  wild  turkeys  along  the  road,  so  it  made 
the  trip  rijiit  smart  weary.  One  time  the  engineer 
au'  fireman  went  off  with  the  brakesman  and  con- 
ductor aftc-  deer,  an'  all  han's  got  down  to  Oyster 
Creek  an'  got  drunk." 

"But  what  did  the  passengers  do?"  asked  Amy  in 
some  alarm. 

"  Oh,  mistJ,  they  knowed  it  was  a  joke,  though  they 
cussed  righi  smart.  Howdsomdever,  we  went  back 
to  ole  Stephens,  an'  got  a  mule  team  an'  hauled  one 
of  the  cars  down  agin  to  Columbia.  We  had  a  gay 
time  that  night,  miss,"  and  the  ole  man  laughed  at 
the  memory  of  the  festive  occasion. 

"Do  you  imagine,  sir,  that  anything  will  happen 
to  prevent  our  getting  in  before  dark?"  asked  Mary 
nervously. 

"I  do  li'lknow  miss,  I  hope  not,"  said  the  old  man. 
But  I  see>  tear's  a  stiff  breeze  a  blowin'  frum  the  east ; 
if  it  goei  aioun'  south  why  we  '11  jest  fly  to  Houston ; 
if  it  goes  north  or  northeast,  it  '11  be  slap  agin  us,  an* 
we  '11  have  to  come  to  anchor.  "Why  bless  you,  I  've 
often  stopped  all  night  on  these  here  prairies  with  a 
head  wind.  Once  we  wuz  two  hull  days  out  without 
anything  to  eat  an'  nothin'  to  drink  but  water.  We 
all  got  so  hungry  we'd  have  eaten  a  raw  baby.  Since 
then,  miss,  I  alius  cames  three  days'  pervisions." 

"But  the  train  used  to  go  much  faster,  I  am  sure, 
for  I  have  been  over  the  road  frequently,"  said  Mary. 

"Yes,  yer  right  miss,  but  I  reckon  as  how  that  v.as 
afore  the  war ;  now  the  track  is  all  willow-wallerey 


ANDREW  JOHNSON'S  BROTHER.  237 

like,  an'  no  one  seems  to  keer  fur  fixin'  it.  Now  jist 
lissen  to  that  ole  engine,"  said  the  grey-headed  man, 
putting  his  head  out  of  the  window.  "  Do  ye  hear 
her  a  wheezin'  ?  Wall,  if  she  don't  bust  in  a  week  I  '11 
eat  her,"  and  the  old  man  drew  his  coat  sleeve  across 
his  mouth  as  if  to  prepare  for  the  feast,  and  then 
added,  "  Howdsomdever,  we  kin  git  along  better  with- 
out any  engines." 

Mary  looked  doubtingly  at  the  old  man,  who,  deem- 
ing an  explanation  necessary,  said,  "Wall,  ye  see  I'd 
have  sails  on  the  cars  an'  go  up  at  night,  whin  the 
wind  comes  frum  the  Gulf,  an'  then  come  back  in 
the  mornin'  whin  the  wind 's  off  land." 

The  young  ladies  could  not  help  smiling  at  this 
novel  idea,  and  for  some  time  the  conversation 
dropped.  After  an  hour's  dull  riding,  and  while  the 
train  was  stopped  for  wood,  the  old  man  walked  to 
the  end  of  the  car,  looked  out,  and  came  back.  He 
was  about  sixty  years  of  age,  rather  stout,  and  of 
medium  height.  His  dress  was  coarse,  his  boots 
heavy  and  dirty,  and  his  hands  large  and  tanned.  He 
looked  like  one  of  the  lower  order  of  southern  whites, 
but  under  his  coarse  appearance  there  was  an  expres- 
sion of  kindness,  and  an  easy,  good-natured  sort  of 
indecision.  Mary  thought  as  he  came  back  that  she 
recognized  hira  as  *•  Cooper  Johnson,"  a  poor  man 
with  a  very  large  family  of  ignorant  daughters  living 
in  Columbia,  and  the  same  person  whom  Robert  had 
saved  at  one  time  when  the  Brazos  was  flooded.  He 
worked  in  the  sugar  plantations  along  the  river,  and 
was  looked  upon  as  a  good-natured,  lazy  sort  of  a 
man,  who  never  gave  a  thought  to  the  morrow.  He 
was  a  Tennesseean,  or  claimed  to  be,  but  he  was  o' 


238  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

so  little  importance  that  nobody  seemed  to  care  for 
his  antecedents.  Since  the  war,  however,  he  had 
become  an  object  of  some  note.  He  was  a  strong 
southern  man  in  his  feelings,  as  he  would  have  beci. 
anything  else  to  oblige  his  neighbors,  and  he  v/as 
never  so  happy  as  when  in  a  bar-room  he  would  say  : 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  it  ain't  my  fault ;  my  family  should 
not  be  disgraced  kase  my  brother  is  a  Yankee.  We 
never  did  hitch  well,  fur  Andy  wuz  alius  an  onery 
cuss,  an'  I  'm  not  sui'prised  he  's  a  traitor  to  his  coun- 
try.'' 

Cooper  Johnson  wns  a  brother  of  no  less  a  person 
than  Andrew  Johnson,  then  a  United  States  Senator 
and  the  military  governor  of  Tennessee. 

It  w^as  nearly  dark  when  the  train  reached  Houston, 
and  though  both  the  young  ladies  had  visiting  ac- 
quaintances there,  they  preferred,  imdcr  the  circum- 
stances, to  go  to  the  Verandah  Hotel,  where  they 
obtained  a  pleasant  room  for  the  night.  On  the  fol- 
lowing morning  they  took  the  train  for  Orange,  which 
place  they  reached  in  the  evening.  All  the  hotels 
were  crowded,  and  the  young  ladies  searched  in  vain 
for  a  place  to  stop  all  night.  Their  inquiries  attracted 
the  attention  of  a  young  artillery  officer,  who  gen- 
erously offered  them  his  room,  and  learning  that  one 
of  the  young  ladies  was  going  on  to  Haines's  Bluff  he 
promised  to  get  her  a  ticket  in  the  morning,  and  have 
her  trunk  taken  to  the  steamboat  going  north.  There 
was  no  alternative  but  to  accept  this  kind  offer,  and 
on  learning  their  intention  the  young  officer  had  the 
room  prepared  and  the  baggage  of  the  young  ladies 
taken  to  it. 

The  two  anxious  hearts  were  wonderfully  disguised 


THE  TRANSFER  OF  TOM.  239 

as  they  beat  side  by  side  in  the  little  bed-room  that 
night.  There  was  an  attempt  to  laugh  at  their  situa- 
tion, though  both  felt  like  crying,  and  as  Mary  thought 
of  the  long  journey  and  the  indefinite  course  before 
her,  she  secretly  wished  herself  back  at  Gronzelletta. 
They  slept  but  little  during  the  night,  for  there  were 
a  hundred  things  to  talk  about,  and  air-castles  to  build 
for  their  future  abode.  Next  morning  they  were  up 
before  the  sun,  and  everything  was  in  readiness. 
They  had  an  early  breakfast,  of  which  neither  could 
eat,  and  then  they  sat  down  to  await  the  arrival  of 
the  young  officer,  who  promised  to  see  Mary  to  the 
steamer  and  afterwards  escort  Amy  to  the  train,  for, 
seeing  his  gentlemanly  bearing,  the  girls  trusted  him 
with  this  part  of  their  secret. 

*'I  have  been  thinking,  dear  Amy,"  said  Mary,  as 
they  sat  with  their  hands  embraced,  "  that  you  ought 
to  take  Tom  back  with  you.  I  am  sure  I  shall  be 
able  to  get  along,  and  I  do  not  like  the  idea  of  your 
going  home  alone." 

"You  dear,  unselfish  old  thing,"  said  Amy,  kissing 
her,  "why  I  will  be  safely  at  home  to-morrow  night, 
and  there  are  ever  so  many  hundred  miles  before  you. 
Tom  used  to  be  my  body-guard,  and  he  is  a  very 
strong  boy  with  a  good  heart,  and  so  very  funny 
sometimes.  By  the  way,  he  was  a  birthday  present 
to  me,  and  I  will  now  transfer  him  to  you,  to  be  yours 
forever.  You  know,  you  old  darling,"  she  continued, 
toying  with  Mary's  black  hair,  **that  in  addition  to 
Tom's  being  able  to  manage  your  trunk,  you  will  have 
mor©  attention  shown  you  if  you  travel  v/ith  a  ser- 
vant." 

So  the  disposition  of  Tom  was  settled.     Then  Amy 


240  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

walked  to  the  window,  and  opening  a  silk  purse  sKe 
poured  the  contents  into  her  lap  and  began  to  count. 
She  had  ninety-tliree  dollars.  Twelve  would  take  her 
home,  but  in  case  of  accident  she  would  take  sixteen. 
She  then  put  seventy-five  dollars  back  into  the  purse, 
and  walking  to  the  bed,  where  Mary  was  sitting,  she 
put  her  arms  around  her,  and  said  : 

"Now,  old  pet,  I  have  a  request  to  make,  and  if 
you  do  not  grant  it,  I  will  not  kiss  you  for  ever  so 
long,"  and  Amy  finished  her  sentence  with  a  kiss. 

*'  Yes,  yes,  dear  Amy,  I  will  grant  you  any  request 
in  the  world,"  said  Mary,  returning  the  warm-hearted 
girl's  caress. 

"  Then  take  this,"  handing  her  the  purse,  "and  use 
it  for  me  on  the  road.  Now,  not  a  word.  Mother 
always  gives  me  more  money  than  I  need,  and,  like  a 
little  miser,  I  had  this  put  away.  Tell  Robert  he 
must  pay  me  when  he  comes  back,  or  give  me  a — a — 
what  do  you  call  those  things,  you  know,  where  you 
promise  to  pay  money — Mrs.  Gasting  used  to  teach 
us  about  them  ?  " 

Mary  suggested,  laughingly,  "a  note." 

*'  Oh,  yes,  a  note — and  now  you  are  a  darling  and 
just  the  sweetest,  prettiest  sister  I  ever  want  to  have." 

Mary  held  the  purse  in  her  hand,  with  her  head  cast 
down  and  her  parted  lips  trembling.  Two  gi'eat  tears 
swelled  on  her  long  lashes,  and  then  she  turned  and 
threw  her  arms  around  Amy.  The  embrace  was 
returned,  and  though  for  awhile  each  tried  to  restrain 
her  tears,  the  emotions  were  stronger  than  the  wills, 
and  they  wept  in  each  other's  arms.  Before  they 
could  dry  their  tears  a  servant  came  up  with  Captain 
Brown's  card,  on  which  he  had  penciled  his  *'  com* 


A  LONG  FAREWELL.  241 

pliments,  and  the  boat  will  start  in  fifteen  minutes." 
They  put  on  their  things  hurriedly,  directed  the  ser- 
vant to  have  the  trunk  sent  to  the  boat,  a  duty 
the  captain  had  attended  to.  Then  they  descended 
and  found  the  captain  waiting,  and  learning  there  was 
plenty  of  time  to  walk  to  the  boat,  the  three  started 
toward  the  river.  The  captain,  on  reaching  the 
steamer,  had  Mary's  trunk  checked  and  secured  her 
ticket,  promising  to  see  Amy  off  on  the  train  which 
left  in  half  an  hour  for  Houston.  Then  the  paddles 
of  the  steamboat  played  around,  and  she  strained  the 
great  ropes  that  held  her  to  the  pier.  The  escaping 
steam  sounded  like  a  cry  of  impatience.  The  bell 
tolled  ten  minutes  before  starting.  Then  came  the 
farewell,  and  Mary  was  left  on  deck  with  the  wonder- 
ing black  boy.  The  ropes  were  loosed,  there  was  a 
loud  hoarse  whistle,  and  the  steamer  backed  out  and 
headed  up  the  stream.  Amy  stood  on  the  pier  with 
the  captain,  waving  Grod-speeds  to  her  friend,  and 
Mary  from  the  deck  answered,  till,  like  a  dream,  the 
steamer  was  lost  up  the  river.  Then  Amy,  with  her 
noble  escort,  turned  to  retrace  her  steps  to  Gon- 
zelletta. 

Up  the  Sabine,  with  its  sluggish,  turbid  waters,  the 
steamer  glided.  There  was  no  interest  in  its  low 
banks  covered  with  cotton  wood  trees,  and  no  history 
or  tradition  gave  character  to  its  many  bends  and 
bayous.  There  is  a  saying,  however,  among  Texans, 
that  "those  who  enter  the  State  by  the  Sabine,  and 
drink  of  its  waters,  will  never  leave  Texas,  and  once 
at  least  in  their  lives  they  will  be  guilty  of  horse- 
stealing." There  were  no  doubt  gi'ounds  for  this 
belief  in  the  early  history  of  the  State,  and  it  was  a 
21 


242  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

good  thought  to  cast  the  blame  on  the  waters.  For 
a  long  time  Mary  sat  musing  and  watching  the  vraves 
from  the  advancing  steamer  as  they  rushed  against 
the  muddy  shores.  The  future,  the  past,  and  the 
present  blended  like  a  kaleidoscope  in  her  mind,  and, 
turn  it  as  she  would,  no  combination  brought  comfort 
to  her  heart.  At  length  she  bethought  herself  of 
Tom,  and  seeking  out  that  worthy,  she  found  him 
leaning  over  the  side  of  the  steamer,  with  the  end  of 
a  huge  piece  of  string  in  his  hand,  the  end  that  hung 
in  the  water  being  adorned  with  a  crooked  pin,  to 
which  was  attached  a  piece  of  red  flannel.  In  answer 
to  Mary's 

"  What  are  you  doing  here,  Tom  ?"  he  replied  : 

"Why,  Miss  Mary,  I'se  a  fishin'  fur  muds,  an',  if 
I  'm  right  smart,  I  reckon  I  '11  have  a  big  pile  fur 
mammy  by  the  time  she  gets  home." 

She  brought  him  back  to  her  former  place,  and 
said,  as  she  made  him  sit  down  beside  her : 

*'  Tom,  don't  you  know  it  will  be  a  very  long  time 
before  you  see  your  mammy  again  ?" 

"  Hi,  Miss  Mary,  dat  's  good !"  said  Tom,  with 
evident  delight,  "I  doesn't  git  wollopings  den  frum 
mammy.     You   won't  wallop   me  much,  will    yeh, 


miss 


?'» 


Mary  could  not  repress  a  smile  as  she  said : 
"  I   hope   you  will   be  a  good,   faithful  boy,  and 
need  no  punishment,  Tom." 

"  Oh,  Lor',  Miss  Mary,  I  '11  be  ever  so  good,  an'  I  '11 
tote  dat  'ar  chist  all  day,"  and  Tom  started  in  the 
direction  of  the  trunk,  as  if  to  put  his  boast  into 
practice,  but  Mary  kindly  restrained  him,  and  he 
went  back  to  fish. 


N^W  FRIENDS.  143 

As  the  steamer  nearecl  Haines's  Bluff,  about  noon, 
au  elderly  gentleman,  accompanied  by  a  beautiful 
girl  about  Mary's  age,  and  apparently  bis  daughter, 
walked  past  where  she  sat  several  times.  Stopping  at 
length  before  her,  the  gentleman  spoke  in  a  general 
way  about  the  weather,  the  scenery,  the  difficulties 
of  travel,  and  the  war.  Mary  was  delighted  to  find 
a  kind,  fatherly  person  to  talk  to,  and  after  a  few 
minutes  the  gentleman  sat  down,  and,  with  a  tone  of 
kindly  interest,  asked  : 

"  Are  you  going  further  than  the  Bluff,  miss?  You 
will  pardon  the  inquiry,  but  I  see  you  are  unattended, 
excepting  your  inexperienced  servant, "  turning  to- 
ward Tom  and  smiling.  "  Should  you  be  going 
further,  I  should  be  happy  to  aid  you."  Then  turn- 
ing to  the  young  lady  by  his  side  he  said,  looking  at 
Mary,  "  This  is  my  daughter — Miss  Louisa  Henry, 
Miss " 

"  Warren,"  said  Mary. 

After  the  introduction  Mary  thanked  Mr.  Henry, 
and  told  him  she  desired  to  go  to  Vicksburg. 

"  That  is  a  long  journey  for  a  lady  to  make  alone 
in  such  times." 

"Yes,  sir;  but  with  me  it  is  imperative.  I  am 
going  on  to  see  a  soldier  brother  of  mine,  from  whom 
we  have  not  heard  since  the  war." 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  have  met  you,  for,  as  I  live  on 
Berwick's  Bay,  from  which  point  steamers  go  up  the 
Atchafalaya  to  Vicksburg,  I  hope  to  be  of  some  ser- 
vice in  getting  you  North  comfortably." 

Mary  expressed  her  thanks  to  Mr.  Henry,  and  in- 
wardly breathed  a  prayer  to  God,  who  had  raised  up 
a  friend. 


244  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

The  steamer  had  now  reached  Ilaines's  Bluff,  a 
miserable  cluster  of  log  houses  perched  on  the  muddy 
bank  constituting  the  town,  which  rose  into  import- 
ance during  the  war  as  the  terminus  of  a  stage  line 
running  east  to  New  Iberia.  There  were  no  accom- 
modations for  the  great  swarm  of  travelers  going  in 
both  directions,  but,  as  the  weather  was  fine,  hundreds 
bivouacked  under  the  great  trees,  or  made  temporary 
shelters  from  the  branches.  Here  was  a  large  camp  of 
Texas  recniits  preparing  to  go  beyond  the  Mississippi, 
and  a  long  train  of  wagons  waiting  to  take  supplies 
east.  All  was  noise,  swagger,  and  confusion.  Mr. 
Henry  found  that  the  limited  stage  accommodation 
had  been  secured  weeks  ahead,  and,  as  he  had  no 
desire  to  wait  his  turn,  he  set  about  purchasing  or 
hiring  a  private  conveyance.  He  was  unsuccessful 
in  his  first  attenipt.  He  succeeded,  however,  in  get- 
ting a  room  in  one  of  the  log  houses  for  the  young 
ladies,  and  in  procm-ing  something  to  eat.  It"  was 
simply  impossible  for  those  unaccustomed  to  every 
variety  of  noise  to  sleep  at  Haines's  Bluff  that  night. 
Hundreds  of  men,  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  or 
imbued  with  the  bravado  peculiar  to  uneducated  men 
under  excitement,  made  night  hideous  with  their  wild 
yells  and  drunken  orgies,  while  the  mules  seemed 
possessed  for  the  time  with  the  general  spirit  of  reck- 
lessness and  dissipation,  if  one  might  judge  from  the 
war  of  kicks  and  the  din  of  unmusical  brays  that 
added  to  the  uproar  and  confusion. 


CHAPTER  XXV 


.HE   JOUKNEY    CONTINUED. 

About  noon  the  next  day,  Mr.  Henry  succeeded  in 
purchasing  a  very  dilapidated  conveyance,  from  a 
party  who  had  just  come  west  from  Vermillion. 
Rough  and  unreliable  as  the  so-called  "  light  wagon  " 
was,  it  was  far  supeiior  to  the  tall,  bony,  old  horse, 
and  brown,  ragged  harness.  The  whole,  however, 
was  considered  a  bargain  for  five  hundred  dollars, 
and  Mr.  Henry  would  have  given  more  in  order  to 
leave  Haines's  Bluff. 

Mary  wished  Mr.  Henry  to  use  her  purse  in  pay- 
ing for  this  purchase,  but  hi  laughingly  told  her  he 
would  present  his  account  vfhen  they  had  reached 
the  end  of  their  journey. 

As  the  harness  and  wagon  needed  repairing,  Mr. 
Henry  did  not  leave  the  bluff  till  next  morning. 

Shortly  after  daylight  they  were  driving  through 
the  pine  forest  that  extends  for  thirty  miles 
in  the  direction  of  Lake  Charles.  Mr.  Henry  was 
seated  in  front  on  Mary's  trunk,  the  two  girls  occu- 
pied the  single  seat,  and  Tom  sat  wuth  his  feet  hang- 
ing over  the  tail-board,  clinging  on  to  the  sides  with 
both  hands.  The  pine  roots  made  the  road  very 
rough,  and  as  one  spring  was  w^eaker  than  the  other, 
the  wagon  leaned  to  the  left  with  a  very  rakish  look. 
The  horse  was  very  steady,  the  fire  of  his  youth  had 
21* 


24G  "WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

evidently  departed,  and  all  his  pleasure  seemed  to 
be  retrospective.  He  was  a  wise  horse,  for  he  could 
tell  in  an  instant  when  any  part  of  the  harness  broke, 
and  would  stop  immediately  ;  and  this  he  did,  on  an 
average,  four  times  an  hour,  and  invariably  with 
cause.  Mr.  Henry  anticipated  trouble  in  the  harness 
and  provided  himself  with  an  abundance  of  buckskin, 
so  that  its  many  mendings  made  it  a  marvel  of  inge- 
nuity, and  doubtful  as  to  its  original  material. 

About  sunset  they  reached  "Mrs.  Williams's  Hotel," 
at  Manchester,  a  town  which  bore  but  little  resem- 
blance to  its  British  namesake,  for  it  boasted  but  four 
buildings,  one  the  hotel,  the  other  an  out-kitchen, 
near  which  v/ere  the  stable  and  blacksmith-shop.  All 
the  houses  were  one-storied,  and  built  of  rough  pine 
logs. 

The  young  ladies  were  very  much  fatigued,  and 
Mrs.  Williams's  Hotel  offered  no  promise  of  ease  or 
luxury.  It  was  erected  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  stages,  on  the  principle  of  giving  the  smallest 
amount  of  comfort  for  the  gi'eatest  compensation. 
INIrs.  Williams  was  a  stout,  fleshy  woman,  very  com- 
manding in  her  manner,  and  evidently  accustomed  to 
having  her  own  way.  She  met  Mr.  Henry  at  the  door 
of  her  log  caravansary,  and  informed  him  that  all  the 
beds  v/ere  taken  for  the  night,  but  she  could  make  it 
comfortable  for  the  young  ladies  on  the  gallery,  by 
fencing  off  a  portion  with  a  bed-quilt. 

It  was  the  best  Mrs.  Williams  could  do  in  the  sleep- 
ing line,  but  she  promised  to  make  up  by  preparing 
an  extraordinary  supper.  If  our  party  had  not  been 
hungry  after  their  long,  rough  journey,  the  sight  of 
Mrs.  Williams's  supper  table  would  have  disgusted 


SLEEPIXG  "HALF  OUT  OF  DOORS."  247 

thcni.  for,  though  everything  was  reasonably  clean, 
the  gi-eat  piles  of  fried  yams,  and  islands  of  bacon 
floating  in  little  seas  of  liquid  fat,  v.'ith  thick  corn- 
dodgers and  very  strong  butter,  could  only  be  invit- 
ing to  those  who  preferred  quantity  to  quality. 

It  was  quite  novel  for  the  young  ladies  to  sleep 
*'  half  out  doors,"  as  Tom  called  the  gallery,  but  the 
beds  were  luxurious  to  the  weary  heads,  and  Mr. 
Henry  having  arranged  the  cots  with  a  blanket  cur- 
tain separating  the  gallery  apartments,  he  got  a  blan- 
ket for  Tom,  and  early  in  the  evening  the  whole  party 
was  asleep. 

Mr.  Henry  slept  less  soundly  than  the  young  ladies, 
for  he  rose  frequently  during  the  night,  and  pushing 
back  the  screen  looked  at  the  sleeping  girls.  Once 
he  was  aroused  by  hearing  Mary's  voice  as  if  in  con- 
versation, with  no  person  replying.  He  could  not 
help  listening,  as  the  poor  girl,  dreaming  that  her 
journey  was  over,  and  that  she  was  with  Robert  again, 
iold  all  her  woes  and  hopes.  At  times  Mary's  voice 
sank  to  a  murmur,  and  low  sobs,  as  if  from  her  aching 
heart,  choked  her  utterance.  Heretofore  Mr.  Henry 
had  carefully  avoided  drawing  Mary  into  a  recital  of 
the  details  that  led  to  her  journey,  but  as  he  heard 
the  sad  tale  from  the  lips  of  the  unconscious  girl  the 
tears  rose  to  his  eyes,  and  he  stole  to  the  head  of  the 
cot  where  the  girls  were  sleeping,  and  brushing  aside 
the  screen  again,  he  bowed  and  touched  his  lips  to  the 
brow  of  each. 

Early  next  morning  the  tall  horse,  equipped  in  the 
ragged  harness,  was  hitched  to  the  frail,  light  wagon, 
and  the  journey  was  resumed.  In  the  afternoon  they 
emerged  from  the  pine  woods,  the  road  leading  into 


248  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

the  open  prairie  country  which  stretched  before  them 
for  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the  banks  of  the 
Bayou  Teche.  The  prairies  were  brown  and  dry,  but 
they  looked  like  the  grand  sweeps  about  G-onzelletta, 
and  Mary  felt  happier  at  the  sight,  while  Tom,  snuff- 
ing the  bracing  air  that  came  up  from  the  gulf,  rat- 
tled off  cotton-field  melodies,  which,  without  rhyme 
or  reason,  were  still  very  pleasant  to  hear  at  that 
time. 

At  Lake  Charles  they  entered  the  region  settled  by 
the  lower  class  of  Louisiana  French,  known  in  that 
section  as  "  Cajians,"  and  in  Texas  as  "French 
greasers,"  in  contradistinction  to  the  Mexican  greaser. 
This  section  of  the  United  States  and  its  people  are 
but  little  known,  though  the  latter  are  the  most  pecu- 
liar on  the  continent.  They  are  as  ignorant  as  the 
Indians  that  once  inhabited  this  section,  while  they 
do  not  possess  the  fierce  energy  and  courage  of  the 
savage.  Not  one  in  a  hundred  knows  anything  of 
the  English  language,  and  their  French  patois  is  in- 
comprehensible to  any  but  those  reared  in  that  sec- 
tion. They  profess  the  Catholic  religion,  and  some 
of  the  settlements  are  blest  with  a  priest,  but  books 
and  schools  are  unknown  among  them.  As  a  rule 
they  are  very  poor,  depending  altogether  on  their 
cattle  for  support,  and  rarely  cultivating  the  fine  lands 
on  which  they  are  located.  During  the  war  they  were 
the  most  impartial  conservatives,  for  as  they  did  not 
understand  the  cause,  and  would  not  be  interested  if 
they  did,  they  went  on  branding  their  cattle,  uncaring 
which  side  won.  The  Confederates  made  an  effort 
to  enforce  the  conscription  in  this  section,  but  the 
men  so  procured,  had  to  be  held  in  the  trenches  and 


THE  CAJIANS— PRAIRIE  FIRES.  249 

rauks  by  the  bayonets  of  Dick  Taylor's  Texans,  and  so 
worthless  were  they,  that  Taylor  felt  relieved  when 
the  last  of  the  Cajians  had  deserted.  Physically 
they  are  miserable  specimens  of  humanity.  Small, 
lean,  sallow,  and  cadaverous,  they  look  like  the  imps 
of  the  ague  demon.  At  twenty  the  women  are  tooth- 
less and  shriveled.  The  homeliness  of  the  females 
in  the  calcasien  region  should  make  it  the  home  of 
at  least  one  of  the  virtues,  but  unfortunately  for  the 
Cajians,  virtue  never  even  visits  their  people  in  any 
form.  Rude  people  are  usually  hospitable,  but  so 
jealous  are  the  Cajians  of  strangers  that  they  do 
everything  to  make  their  stay  disagreeable,  and  they 
have  not  hesitated  to  murder  Americans  who  tried  to 
settle  among  them. 

At  Lake  Charles  they  found  accommodations  supe- 
rior to  those  at  Mrs.  Williams's  Hotel,  and  the  follow- 
ing morning  Mr.  Henry  had  the  wagon  spring  and  the 
harness  repaired,  the  blacksmith  who  did  the  whole 
job  saying  the  best  way  to  fix  the  turn-out  would  be 
to  get  a  new  one.  From  some  passengers  who  came 
in  on  the  stage  from  New  Iberia,  Mr.  Henry  learned 
that  the  prairies  were  on  fire,  and  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  follow  the  road  at  some  points.  They 
advised  him  to  remain  at  the  lake  for  a  few  days  till 
the  fire  had  run  its  course,  but  he  was  anxious  to  push 
on,  and  consequently  left  after  the  blacksmith  had 
finished  his  job.  A  few  miles  east  of  Lake  Charles 
a  heavy  wind  began  to  blow  across  the  prairies,  and 
here  and  there  along  the  horizon  columns  of  white 
sm,oke,  ever  changing,  marked  the  line  of  the  prairie 
fires.  While  Mr.  Henry  felt  no  alarm  from  the  fires, 
he  still  desired  to  stop  early  in  the  afternoon  at  the 


250  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

house  of  a  Cajian  close  to  the  road,  and  resume  hia 
journey  across  the  burnmg  country  with  ample  day- 
light before  him.  He  was  met  at  the  door  of  the 
house  by  a  withered  old  hag,  to  whom  he  made  known 
his  wish  in  her  own  dialect.  She  promptly  refused  him, 
and  then  Mr.  Henry  told  her  he  would  pay  any  sum 
which  in  reason  she  might  ask,  but  this  was  unavail- 
ing. The  old  woman  told  him  he  was  a  conscripting 
officer,  and  making  known  her  suspicions  to  her  two 
blear-eyed  sons,  who  came  out  attracted  by  the  con- 
versation, Mr.  Henry  was  forced  to  beat  a  hasty  re- 
treat to  the  wagon.  There  he  tried  to  open  negotia- 
tions again  for  the  purchase  of  some  food,  and  corn 
for  the  horse,  but  the  blear-eyed  young  men  menac- 
ingly directed  him  to  the  next  house,  six  miles  further 
on. 

Mr.  Henry  determined  to  push  on  to  the  next  house, 
but  he  traveled  till  dark,  and  still  there  was  no  house 
in  sight.  It  was  evident  the  blear-eyed  young  men 
had  lied. 

After  dark  the  wind  increased,  and  the  smell  of 
the  burning  prairies  was  at  times  suffocating.  The 
tall  horse  could  not  be  induced  to  go  faster  than  a 
walk  at  any  time ;  but  even  this  dignified  gait  be- 
came gradually  slower,  and  the  tall  horse  showed  at 
times  a  tendency  to  stop  and  contemplate.  Shortly 
after  dark  they  crossed,  or  attempted  to  cross,  a  miry 
little  stream,  peculiar  to  prairie  countries.  The  front 
wheels  got  through  very  well,  and  the  hind  ones  v;ere 
very  promising.  The  pull  was  hard  up  the  opposite 
bank,  and  involuntarily  all  leaned  forward,  as  if  to 
help  the  tall  horse  with  his  load.  Suddenly  sonic- 
thing  broke,  and  the  hind  wheels  slipped  back,  while 


IN  BIVOUAC.  251 

the  tall  horse  joyously  walked  off  with  the  fore  ones, 
and  Mr.  Henry  and  the  two  girls  were  thrown  forward 
to  the  soft  gi'ound.  Tom  clung  to  the  box,  till  Mr. 
Henry  called  him  to  catch  the  tall  horse,  who  had 
accelerated  his  movements  and  was  going  on  with 
the  shafts  and  fore  wheels.  Fortunately  no  one  was 
hurt ;  and  while  Mr.  Henry  felt  annoyed  at  the  acci- 
dent, he  affected  to  treat  it  as  a  joke,  and  laughingly 
told  the  girls  they  must  sleep  on  the  prairie,  Tom 
returned  with  the  tall  horse,  and  after  imharnessing 
him  Mr.  Henry  started  a  fire,  and  spreading  some 
blankets  on  the  gi-ound,  told  the  girls  to  wait  till  he 
unloaded  the  wagon  and  got  out  the  eatables  he  had 
stored  away  for  just  such  an  occasion.  But  neither 
of  the  young  ladies  would  hear  of  his  working  alone. 
They  helped  him  to  unpack  the  wagon,  and,  after 
taking  off  the  box,  they  gave  a  hearty  pull  at  the 
rope,  which  extricated  the  fated  hind  wheels.  With 
the  v^heels,  box,  and  a  blanket,  Mr.  Henry  rigged  up 
a  very  respectable  "  wigwam,"  as  he  called  it,  which 
Tom  filled  with  dry  grass  from  the  banks  of  the 
stream.  After  staking  the  horse,  they  partook  of 
the  cold  chicken,  biscuit,  and  mustang  wine  which 
Mr.  Henry's  foresight  had  provided,  and  all  agi'eed 
that  they  were  much  more  comfortable  than  if  they 
had  staid  at  the  house  of  the  blear-eyed  young  men. 
Every  one  but  Tom  thought  of  the  difficulty  that 
lay  before  them  on  the  morrow,  but  the  subject,  as  if 
by  mutual  consent,  was  avoided.  As  they  sat  in 
their  extemporized  tent  before  the  fire,  Mr.  Henry 
gently  broached  to  Mary  the  question  of  secession  ; 
and  laying  his  hand  in  a  fatherly  manner  on  hers,  he 
told  her  her  own  story  and  how  he  became  acquainted 


252  WARREX  OF  TEXAS. 

with  it.  lie  assured  her  that  iii  this,  as  in  everything 
else,  she  had  all  his  sympathies,  for  he  was  heart  and 
soul  a  Union  man.  The  girls  emhraced  at  this  dis- 
covery of  a  new  tie  between  them,  and  Mary  did 
what  her  heart  prompted,  «he  told  the  story  of  out- 
rage and  A\Tong  which  her  family  had  endured,  till 
Louisa  wept  and  threw  her  arms  around  her  friend, 
and  Mr.  Henry  rose  excitedly  and  indulged  in  a  string 
of  interjections,  some  of  which  were  not,  to  say  the 
least.  Biblical.     Sitting  down,  he  said  : 

"  3Iy  dear  child,  you  have  made  my  heart  very  sore. 
Truly,  you  have  suffered  much,  and  I  pray  that  your 
reward  may  be  correspondingly  great.  I  have  a  large 
plantation  and  two  hundred  hands  on  the  Teche, 
but  if  the  whole  is  necessary  to  save  the  Union,  I 
say  take  them.  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  the  war 
would  end  in  the  emancipation  of  all  the  slaves  South. 
In  that  event  I  will  go  out  to  Texas  and  establish  a 
ranche,  and  who  knows,  my  little  soldier-girl,  but  we 
may  be  neighbors  some  day." 

"  Oh,  I  pray  vv'e  may,  Mr.  Henry,"  said  Mary,  earn- 
estly, while  Louisa  echoed  the  wish.  About  10 
o'clock  all  were  sleeping  as  calmly  as  if  in  their  o\vn 
homes,  uncaring  for  the  hoarse  wind  that  w^as  hurry- 
iiig  the  terrible  fire  toward  them.  Mr.  Henry  seemed 
to  sleep  by  snatches,  for  he  woke  every  few  hours  and 
looked  around  to  see  what  progress  the  fke  was 
making.  About  an  hour  before  day  he  was  startled 
by  a  roaring  noise  like  the  sound  of  a  hundred  cata- 
racts. He  hurriedly  told  the  girls  to  dress — a  by  no 
means  difncult  job — and  as  they  came  out  from  their 
shelter,  they  saw  for  twenty  miles  great  waves  of  fh^e 
rolling  toward  them.     The  sky  looked  like  a  mighty 


THKOUGH  THE  FIERY  BELT.  253 

furnace,  and  the  red  clouds  rolled  one  upon  another, 
as  if  to  quench  their  burning  sides.  At  fresh  points 
the  fires  would  suddenly  start  up  and  then  speed  away 
on  their  devouring  course.  Branches  of  burning  grass 
filled  the  air  like  a  grand  pyrotechnic  display,  and 
as  they  fell  in  advance  of  the  main  fire  they  would 
light  up  the  dry  grass,  and  plutonian  chariots  sped  on 
their  fiery  race  before  the  whip  of  the  wind.  The 
party  suffered  for  a  while  from  the  stifling  smoke, 
which  soon  passed  over,  and  then  came  a  dry,  suffoca- 
ting heat,  more  oppressive  than  the  smoke.  The  fire 
would  soon  be  upon  them,  and  Mr.  Henry  felt  more 
alarmed  than  he  dared  to  express.  Below  his  camp- 
ing place,  about  a  hundred  feet,  the  miry  stream 
widened  into  a  broad  marsh,  where  the  grass  was  too 
green  to  burn,  and  to  the  center  of  this  they  rapidly 
carried  all  their  effects,  including  the  tall  horse. 
They  were  not  too  soon ;  the  fire  surged  around  them 
and  the  dry  air  grew  hotter.  Mr.  Henry  wet  handker- 
chiefs, and  making  all  lie  on  their  faces  they  breathed 
through  the  wet  cloths,  which  moistened  and  cooled 
the  air.  A  few  minutes,  and  every  particle  of  the  dry 
grass  around  them  was  consumed,  and  the  fires  had 
swept  on.  All  rose  to  congratulate  one  another  on 
their  fortunate  escape  from  the  most  fearful  of  deaths. 
The  fire  had  leaped  the  stream,  and  as  they  turned  to 
look  at  it,  it  had  reached  a  cluster  of  pine  trees  about 
four  hundred  yards  beyond.  But  the  fire  stopped  not. 
It  licked  up  the  dry  leaves  and  grass  around  the  trees, 
and  then  gathering  at  points,  as  if  for  a  leap,  the  flames 
shot  up  the  resinous  trunks  and  spread  from  limb  to 
limb  and  tree  to  tr6e.  Like  mighty  torche.3  the  trees 
burned,  while  clouds  of  black  smoke  rolled  up  to  the 

22 


254  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

lurid  sky.  The  winds  rushed  through  the  burning 
grove,  tlirowing  out  great  streamers  of  flame  that 
straightened  and  flapped  from  the  tops  of  the  stately 
pines  like  the  banners  of  the  Fire  King. 

They  watched  this  sublime  spectacle  till  gradually 
the  torches  paled,  the  prairie  fires  became  lines  of 
distant  smoke,  and  the  lurid  clouds  blackened,  then 
faded  before  the  majesty  of  the  rising  sun. 

About  a  half  mile  from  where  they  broke  down  Mr. 
Henry  saw  a  ranche,  to  which  he  went,  and  was  fortu- 
nate enough  to  procure  some  com  bread  and  dried 
beef,  in  addition  to  a  side  of  raw-hide  to  fix  his  wagon. 
After  they  had  eaten  of  the  by  no  means  inviting 
fare,  Mr.  Henry  cut  the  rawhide  into  long  slips,  which 
he  moistened  and  twisted  into  ropes  as  strong  as  iron. 
With  these  he  succeeded  in  tying  the  seceded  parts 
of  the  wagon  firmly  together,  remarking  to  the  girls, 
who  were  watching  admiringly  :  "  The  country  will  be 
united  like  this  after  both  sides  are  well  cowhided." 

The  reader  would  not  have  been  kept  an  instan 
on  these  calcasien  prairies  if  the  writer  imagined  this 
rapid  sketch  of  the  "Cajians"  to  be  a  matter  of 
general  knowledge.  "We  will,  therefore,  pass  over 
the  long  trip  of  one  week  to  the  rich  shores  of  the 
Teche,  and  leave  unrecorded  the  troubles  of  Mr. 
Henry  with  the  tall  horse,  the  broken  harness,  and 
patched-up  wagon. 

The  Teche  region  is  as  level  as  the  prairies  and 
heavily  timbered.  The  soil  is  exceedingly  fertile, 
and  the  banks  of  the  bayou  are  lined  with  the  finest 
sugar  plantations  in  the  South.  But  a  few  hours* 
ride  from  the  gulf,  the  temperature  for  that  latitude 
is  delightful,  particularly  so  in  the  evenings,  which 


STERLING-ON-THE-TEUni:.  255 

are  always  cool.  The  dwellings  of  the  planters, 
many  of  whom  are  French  or  of  French  descent,  are 
models  of  taste  and  comfort,  erected  by  wealth  in 
the  hands  of  cultivated  men.  And  the  negro  quarters 
would  compare  in  appearance  and  comfort  with  the 
dwellings  of  the  majority  of  northern  working-men. 
Mr.  Henry's  plantation,  with  its  surroundings,  was 
one  of  the  finest  on  the  river,  and  his  house  was  the 
ideal  southern  mansion,  with  its  wide  galleries,  and 
white  pillars,  and  cool  approaches  of  overhanging 
live-oak.  The  welcome  which  Mary  received  at 
"  Sterling,"  as  Mr.  Henry  called  his  place,  could  not 
have  been  excelled  in  cordial  warmth  at  Gonzelletta. 
There  was  everything  to  induce  her  to  remain  at 
Sterling  for  a  week  at  least,  but  Mary  was  determined 
to  push  on.  She  never  for  an  instant  lost  sight  of 
the  one  great  object  that  induced  her  to  leave  home. 
In  two  days  there  was  to  be  a  steamer  from  Grand 
Lake  for  Vicksburg ;  and  as  it  would  save  the  trouble 
of  going  to  Baton  Rouge  or  New  Orleans,  Mr.  Henry 
thought  it  better  to  reach  the  Mississippi  by  the  Bayou 
Atchafalaya,  for  there  would  be  no  change  by  that 
route. 


CHAPTEE  XXVI. 


ON   THE   ATCHAFALAYA. 

Mary  parted  from  her  friends,  who  accompanied 
her  to  Grand  Lake,  with  a  feeling  of  sorrow,  only 
equaled  by  the  parting  at  Gonzelletta.  She  promised 
them  to  WTite  from  Yicksburg,  and  pledged  herself  to 
renew  the  acquaintance  on  her  return. 

What  a  wonderful  tangle  of  artificial  canals  the 
bayous  of  southern  Louisiana  make  !  Deep  and  cur- 
rentless,  with  low  banks,  which  often  overflow  and 
convert  the  whole  region  into  a  lake,  they  connect  with 
the  Mississippi  and  Red  rivers  in  the  most  unexpected 
places,  and  large  steamers  could,  and  do,  go  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  by  sailing  up  the  Eed  River,  a  tributary  of 
the  Mississippi,  which  empties  into  the  gulf.  One  of 
these  outlets  is  the  Bayou  Atchafalaya,  which  con- 
nects Red  River  with  Grand  Lake,  while  another  bayou 
connects  Grand  Lake  with  the  salt  waters  of  Berwick's 
Bay.  This  lake,  with  its  flowery  shores  and  moss- 
covered  cypress  trees,  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to 
Caddo  Lake  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State. 
The  steamer  on  which  Mary  obtained  passage  was 
commodious,  and  the  captain,  a  friend  of  Mr,  Henry, 
she  found  very  kind  and  obliging.  He  promised  Mr. 
Henry  that  he  would  see  Mary  safely  off  for  Memphis 
when  they  reached  Yicksburg,  so  she  felt  as  if  her 
immediate  troubles  were  past.     And  daily  she  sat  on 


AT  VICKSBURG.  257 

deck  watching  the  steamer  passing  up  the  sluggish 
bayou,  above  which,  at  times,  the  stately  cypress 
trees,  with  their  mossy  plumes,  bent  in  graceful 
arches  of  green,  the  boughs  frequently  brushing  the 
deck  of  the  steamer.  It  seemed  wonderful  to  her 
how  the  pilot  knew  his  course,  for  the  whole  region 
was  a  labyrinth  of  bayous,  and  one  was  so  much  like 
the  other  that  she  could  not  imagine  by  what  clue 
they  were  sailing.  Occasionally  the  steamer  passed 
a  house  built  on  piles,  the  tops  of  which  showed  the 
high-water  mark.  These  houses,  with  their  bilious- 
looking  inmates,  interested  her  very  much,  for  they 
reminded  her  amazingly  of  the  huge  sand-hill  cranes 
so  common  in  Texas,  and  which  make  stupid  efforts 
to  balance  their  large  bodies  on  one  long,  thin  leg, 
in  a  tipsy  sort  of  way,  when  they  desire  to  be  par- 
ticularly comfortable.  In  answer  to  her  question  as 
to  how  these  people  lived,  the  captain  told  her  *'  they 
made  cypress  pews  and  sold  them  down  the  river." 

The  answer  mystified  her  more  than  ever,  but  she 
did  not  trouble  the  captain  by  asking  what  the  virtue 
of  "cypress  pews"  was.  Two  days,  and  they  reached 
Simsport,  near  the  Red  River,  where  the  steamer 
remained  for  the  night,  and  early  next  morning  the 
mighty  Father  of  Waters  was  rolling  under  the  pad- 
dles. Northward,  past  Natchez  with  its  clayey  bluffs, 
and  Grand  Gulf  with  its  fortifieci  hills,  the  steamer 
sped.  Six  days  from  the  day  Mary  left  "Sterling," 
she  was  in  the  Washington  Hall  hotel  at  Yicksburg, 
from  which  place  she  was  to  start  next  morning  for 
Memphis.  The  captain  had  been  true  to  his  promise 
and  obtained  her  a  nice  state-room  on  a  steamer 
sailing  the  day  after  their  arrival.  So  far  Mary  felt 
22* 


258  TTARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

as  if  Providence  had  raised  up  friends  to  aid  her,  and 
as  she  nearcd  Memphis  she  felt  each  revolution  of 
the  paddles  took  her  nearer  to  the  field  of  her  labors 
and  her  soldier-brother.  The  steamboat  from  Vicks- 
Ourg  to  Memphis  was  crowded,  and  the  captain, 
though  very  gentlemanly,  had  too  much  t'>  do  on  the 
landing  of  the  steamer  to  pay  any  particular  atten- 
tion to  any  of  his  passengers. 

Mary  assumed  a  confidence  she  did  not  feel  as  she 
ordered  a  can-iage  through  Tom,  and  drove  to  a  hotel, 
which  one  of  the  officers  of  the  boat  recommended. 
Ever  since  she  left  Texas  there  was  some  friendly 
link  that  connected  her  with  home ;  now  she  felt 
utterly  alone.  Though  her  heart  fluttered,  she  was 
not  discouraged — she  was  too  close  to  her  journey's  end 
for  that.  The  hotel  was  filled  with  southern  officers 
resplendent  in  grey  uniforms,  decked  with  gold  lace. 
The  absorbing  topic  of  conversation  seemed  to  be 
war,  and  the  streets  were  lined  with  soldiers.  Indeed, 
Mary  saw  so  many  passing  on  the  street  in  one  hour 
that  she  began  to  question  the  power  of  the  North  to 
conquer  so  large  a  number  of  strong,  confident-looking 
men.  At  supper  she  sat  opposite  to  a  splendid-look- 
ing soldier  who  wore  on  his  collar  the  three  stars, 
indicative  of  a  colonel's  rank  in  the  Confederate 
army.  Without  being  obtrusive,  he  paid  those  little 
well-bred  attentions  to  his  fair  vis-a-vis  which  might 
answer  for  the  opening  of  a  conversation  where  there 
is  no  introduction.  After  supper,  as  she  sat  alone 
for  a  few  minutes  in  the  parlor,  the  handsome  colonel 
entered,  and,  glancing  over  a  paper  which  he  carried 
in  his  hand,  he  said,  in  a  tone  which  might  pass  for  a 
soliloquy  or  as  a  remark  to  Mary : 


HAERINGTON.  259 

"  I  see  our  troops  have  been  pretty  roughly  handled 
in  Missouri." 

To  which  Mary  replied :  "  Indeed,  sir  !  Has  there 
been  a  battle  ?  " 

"  Yes,  miss  ;  Fremont  has  been  after  our  boys,  and 
it  seems  from  the  full  report  we  were  worsted.  But, 
of  course,  you  heard  about  the  fighting  before?" 

' '  No,  sir,  I  have  not,  and  I  must  plead  in  extenua- 
tion of  my  ignorance  of  war  matters  the  fact  that  I 
have  been  traveling  for  eighteen  days." 

"You  astonish  me,"  said  the  colonel  looking  sur- 
prised, and  dropping  his  paper  as  he  continued :  "  I 
trust  you  will  pardon  me,  miss,  but  you  surely  have 
not  been  traveling  in  these  times  eighteen  days  unac- 
companied? " 

"  I  have  my  servant,  sir,  and  have  been  most  fortu- 
nate during  my  journey  from  Texas  in  meeting  kind 
friends,  so  that  I  have  never  felt  wholly  alone." 

*'  Might  I  ask  if  you  are  going  further  than  Mem- 
phis? I  make  the  inquiry  because  I  saw  you  arrive 
in  a  carriage  this  evening  with  only  your  servant,  and 
I  should  be  most  happy,  if  you  are  unacquainted  here, 
.to  aid  you  in  any  way." 

Mary  thanked  the  colonel,  and  told  him  she  was 
going  to  Kentucky,  mentioning  her  uncle's  name. 

"What,  Warren,  of  Jessamine?"  asked  the  colonel. 

"  The  same." 

"  Why,  they  are  old  friends  of  mine.  Kussell  and 
Allen  I  know  well.  Magnificent  fellows  they  are, 
with  one  of  the  loveliest  of  sisters.  By  the  way,  you 
must  be  related  to  my  old  class-mate,  Robert  Warren  ?  " 

"  I  am  his  sister,  sir." 

"  What,  Robert  Warren's  sister !     Excuse  me,  but  J 


26a  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

must  take  your  hand  ;  my  name  is  Harrington.  Robert 
used  to  call  me  'Black-eyed  Susan.'  Perhaps  you 
may  have  heard  him  mention  me  ?  " 

Mary  assured  him  that  she  had  often  heard  Robert 
speak  in  the  kindest  manner  of  his  friend  of  that 
name,  and  she  expressed  her  delight  at  meeting  him. 

As  other  persons  had  entered  the  parlor  by  this 
time,  Colonel  Hamngton  led  Mary  to  a  retired  corner, 
and  after  they  were  seated  he  said  : 

' '  I  have  heard  all  about  Robert's  troubles,  and  some 
terrible  stories  which  I  could  not  believe.  I  know, 
however,  that  he  is  a  Union  man,  but  this  fact  does 
not  lessen  my  respect  for  him,  though  you  see  I  have 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  South  heart  and  soul.  Now, 
I  do  not  ask  your  sentiments  ;  I  know  what  they  must 
be  under  the  circumstances." 

Mary  assured  him  that  she  was  in  favor  of  the  Union, 
and  briefly  related  the  difficulty  that  induced  Robert 
to  leave  the  State,  with  the  subsequent  troubles  and 
death  of  her  father,  concluding  with  her  own  resolve 
to  undertake  the  journey  on  which  she  then  was. 

The  colonel  was  deeply  affected,  and  assured  Mary 
that  the  treatment  that  her  family  was  subjected  to 
would  meet  the  disapproval  of  every  good  southern 
man  and  soldier.  He  begged  her  not  to  judge  the 
cause  of  the  Confederacy  by  these  acts,  but  to  think 
of  the  terrible  sacrifice  the  southern  people  were  will- 
ing to  make  for  a  principle.  He  deplored  the  fact 
that  his  sword  was  drawn  against  some  of  his  dearest 
friends,  but  he  valued  his  love  for  the  South  more 
dearly  than  his  life,  and  consequently  it  was  greater 
than  any  friendship.  He  felt  that  he  would  not  sur- 
vive the  war ;  though  he  wap  not  superstitious,  still. 


TROUBLE  IN  STORE.  261 

with  his  convictions  of  duty,  he  was  willing  to  lay  down 
his  life. 

The  colonel  spoke  in  a  calm  tone,  without  any 
bravado,  and  Mary  could  not  help  admiring  the  noble 
soldier,  though  she  inwardly  hoped  there  were  but  few 
such  men  in  the  southern  army.  Alas  there  were  tens 
of  thousands  of  men  as  brave,  intelligent,  and  patri- 
otic as  the  gallant  Colonel  Harrington,  who,  with  a 
devotion  worthy  the  noblest  cause  for  which  a  sword 
was  ever  drawn,  boldly  laid  down  their  lives  for  what 
they  deemed  right. 

The  colonel  told  Mary  he  was  glad  he  had  met  her 
at  that  time,  as  his  regiment  left  on  the  following 
afternoon  for  Fort  Donelson.  He  would  secure  a  pass 
from  the  provost  marshal  in  the  morning,  and  with 
her  permission  see  her  safely  off  in  the  cars.  Mary 
looked  the  gratitude  she  could  not  express  as  she  rose 
to  bid  the  colonel  good  night. 

About  ten  the  next  morning  Mary  started  for  Bowl- 
ing Green  via  Nashville,  Colonel  Harrington  kindly 
escorting  her  to  the  depot,  and  provided  her  with  a 
pass,  without  which,  he  informed  her,  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  travel  through  the  country  occupied  by  the 
southern  army.  So  impressed  was  she  with  the  value 
of  the  pass  that  she  put  it  away  carefully  in  her  pocket- 
book,  while  she  slipped  the  railroad  ticket  inside  her 
glove. 

Everything  passed  off  quietly  till  she  approached 
Nashville,  when  an  officer,  accompanied  by  an  armed 
guard,  entered  the  car  and  examined  the  passes  of 
all  the  passengers.  Mary  saw  him  coming  and  put 
her  hand  in  her  pocket  for  the  pocket-book  contain- 
ing hers,  when,  to  her  horror,  she  found  it  gone.    She 


262  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

searched  nervously  about  her  dress  and  in  her  satchel, 
but  the  pass  and  her  pocket-book  were  gone.  By  this 
time  the  officer  was  waiting  by  hor  side,  watching  her 
excited  movements.  The  search  was  vain,  and  she 
stated  the  circumstances  to  the  lieutenant.  He  seemed 
inclined  to  believe  her  statements,  but  at  the  same 
time  he  informed  her  that  she  must  leave  the  cars  at 
Nashville  and  accompany  him,  with  her  servant,  to 
the  office  of  the  provost  marshal.  A  number  of  gen- 
tlemen in  the  car,  seeing  Mary's  agitation,  and  learn- 
ing about  the  lost  pass,  tried  to  induce  the  lieutenant 
to  let  her  go  on,  but  he  had  his  orders  and  was  in- 
flexible. Mary,  at  his  request,  gave  him  the  check 
for  her  trunk,  which  was  to  have  gone  on  to  Bowling 
Green.  Fear  and  mortification,  for  the  time,  unnerved 
her,  and  when  she  left  the  car  at  Nashville,  it  required 
all  her  power  to  keep  herself  from  swooning.  The 
officer  was  at  least  a  kind  man,  and  at  the  depot  he 
ordered  a  carriage,  and  placing  Mary  and  her  sen^ant 
inside,  he  directed  the  driver  to  take  the  trunk  along 
and  drive  to  the  City  Hotel,  where  he  must  see  the 
lady  provided  with  suitable  rooms.  He  told  Mary  at 
the  same  time  that  he  would  relate  her  case  to  the 
provost  marshal  at  once,  and  he  doubted  not  but  she 
could  go  on  by  the  next  train.  Unfortunately,  it  was 
now  late  in  the  evening,  and  the  provost  marshal  had 
left  his  office  and  would  not  be  back  till  the  next  day. 
His  deputy  never  made  a  decision  without  consulting 
his  principal,  so,  after  the  lieutenant  had  made  his 
report,  he  was  informed  that  the  case  could  not  be 
examined  till  next  day.  This  was  sad  news  to  Mary, 
but  she  was  so  conscious  of  her  innocence  of  any 
wrong,  that,  as  she  pondered  the  whole  affair  over  that 


TOWNSEND  AGAIN.  263 

night,  she  felt  convinced  she  would  be  permitted  to 
resume  her  journey  in  the  morning. 

That  night  the  lieutenant,  in  the  kindliest  spirit, 
told  a  gi'oup  of  officers  and  soldiers  of  his  interesting 
captive,  and  stated  how  *'it  went  against  the  grain  to 
compel  the  lady  to  leave  the  train."  In  answer  to  a 
dozen  queries  as  to  the  lady's  name,  and  where  she 
was  from,  he  answered  : 

"  Miss  Mary  Warren  ;  she  is  on  her  way  from  Texas 
to  Kentucky." 

"  What 's  her  name?"  asked  an  excited  nasal  voice, 
as  a  tall,  cadaverous-looking  man  pushed  toward  the 
lieutenant.  The  name  was  repeated  for  this  man's 
information,  who  immediately  said  with  an  oath : 

"  Hang  on  ter  that  gal,  lieutenant ;  I  know  her  like 
a  book.  She  's  a  straight-out  Yankee,  and  lived  nigh 
whar  I  com  'd  from." 

"  The  devil  she  is  !"  said  the  lieutenant,  apparently 
annoyed,  "and  who  are  you,  and  vv^here  do  you  come 
from?" 

"  Wall,  I  ain  't  ashamed  to  answer  them  ar'  ques- 
tions all  night,"  said  the  cadaverous  man,  edging 
close  to  the  lieutenant.  "I  belong  to  the  Eighth 
Texas ;  my  name  is  Henderson  Townsend,  an'  I  come 
from  Brazoria  Comity,  an'  ain't  ashamed  to  own  it." 

This  was  said  in  a  tone  of  bravado  that  found  an 
echo  in  the  breasts  of  many  of  the  bystanders,  judging 
from  such  excited  expressions  as  "  Bully  for  Texas  !  " 
"  G  ood  for  the  Rangers  !  "  "  Don  't  be  backed  down, 
ole  fel !  "     "  Spit  out  the  hull  yarn  !  " 

To  "spit  out  the  whole  yarn"  was  exactly  what 
Townsend  desired.  After  telling  the  crowd,  which 
was  constantly  increasing,  that  he  had  left  Texis  but 


264  WxVRREX  OF  TEXAS. 

a  short  time  before,  he  related,  in  his  own  way,  the 
facts  ah-eady  familiar  to  the  reader,  making  himself 
a  conspicuous  martyr,  and  closing  by  saying:  "If 
that  gal  ain't  got  letters  on  her  that  '11  prove  what  I 
say,  an'  show  she  is  travelin'  fur  no  good,  why,  you 
may  call  me  a  liar." 

"  Now,  that 's  far  an'  squar."  "  No  one  kin  say 
nothin'  agin  that,"  said  a  number  of  men  in  the  crowd, 
while  the  lieutenant,  who  was  blaming  himself  for 
not  letting  Mary  go  on,  though  she  could  not  have 
gone  far  without  being  subjected  to  another  scrutiny, 
growled  out : 

"Yes,  and  after  the  letters  are  read,  if  there  are 
any,  I  will  still  believe  there  is  one  daipned  liar  mixed 
up  in  this  affair." 

Early  next  morning,  the  lieutenant  called  on  Mary, 
who  grew  deathly  pale  as  she  heard  him  recite  Town- 
send's  story.  As  he  concluded,  he  looked  into  her 
calm,  beautiful  eyes  for  an  instant,  and  added :  "  I 
need  not  tell  you,  Miss  Warren,  that  I  do  not  believe 
this  man's  statements.  However,  the  examination 
will  be  a  very  short  affair.  I  will  walk  with  you  to 
and  from  the  office." 

Mary  thanked  the  lieutenant  for  his  kind  words,  and 
lefl  the  parlor  to  make  preparations  to  accompany 
him.  She  was  so  weak  she  could  hardly  walk  up  the 
stairs,  and  as  she  glanced  in  the  mirror,  she  was  still 
more  frightened  at  the  ashy  paleness  of  her  own  lips 
and  face.  She  staggered  to  a  chair  and  pressed  her 
hand  to  her  forehead  as  if  to  ease  an  intense  pain. 
She  had  no  time  for  tears,  and  no  exciting  sympathy 
to  make  them  flow.  Whispering,  as  she  clasped  her 
hands  and  raised  her  eyes  to  Heaven,  *'  Oh,  thou  great 


BEFORE  THE  PROVOST  MARSHAL.  265 

God,  help  me  !  "  she  adjusted  her  dress  and  descended 
the  stairs,  first  telling  the  frightened  Tom  to  remain 
in  the  room  with  her  trunk  till  she  came  back. 

The  provost  marshal's  office  was  on  the  first  floor 
of  a  high  brick  building  that  stood  sternly  by  itself. 
It  had  no  shutters  or  blinds  to  its  windows,  and  it  re- 
sembled a  cold,  hard  face,  without  eyebrows.  From 
a  staff  in  the  second  story,  the  barred  flag  drooped 
over  the  office  door,  and  it  looked  particularly  awful 
and  red  that  chill  November  morning.  An  armed 
guard  paced  before  the  door  and  hugged  his  gim  as 
if  it  contained  some  latent  heat  he  wished  to  squeeze 
out  and  appropriate  to  himself.  The  office  was  large 
and  dreary ;  a  number  of  maps  hung  on  the  walls, 
with  a  few  coarse  lithographs  intended  to  give  a 
comical  idea  of  the  Yankee  retreat  from  Bull  Eun. 
Four  clerks  sat  on  high  stools  before  one  long  desk, 
and  at  the  further  end  of  the  room  an  officer,  with  a 
grey,  stiff  head  rising  above  his  high-collared  coat, 
peered  through  his  spectacles  at  a  parcel  of  papers 
which  he  had  just  taken  from  the  table  before  him,  as 
Mary,  with  the  officer,  entered. 

"  Hah  !  morning.  Lieutenant  Cummings,"  said  the 
officer,  glancing  up  at  the  lieutenant  with  his  cold, 
blue  eyes,  and  at  the  same  time  adjusting  his  specta- 
cles to  scrutinize  Mary. 

"  Good  morning.  Major  Kimber.  Have  you  time 
to  attend  to  the  case  I  have  brought  this  morning?  " 

The  lieutenant  spoke  in  a  deferential  way,  and  the 
major  put  his  hand  to  his  mouth  and  gave  two  stern, 
little  coughs,  as  if  considering  whether  he  should  be 
offended  at  the  interruption  or  not.  The  major  hod 
been  a  Middle  Tennessee  pettifogger,   ])ut  since  tlie 


23 


266  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

war  he  was  convinced  that  Providence  had  set  the 
seal  of  the  warrior  upon  him.  His  superior  officers 
thought  differently,  and  detailed  him  for  his  present 
duty.  He  considered  it  strictly  military  to  be  gruff 
in  his  questions  and  abrupt  in  his  replies ;  to  carry 
his  back  in  and  his  breast  out,  which,  not  having  done 
all  his  life,  made  the  position  very  hard  to  assume  at 
fifty-eight.  Though  the  most  garrulous  bar-room 
tippler  before  the  war,  and  the  most  approachable  of 
all  selfish  mortals,  he  deemed  it  duty  now  to  make 
every  subordinate  as  miserable  as  possible,  and 
frowned  fiercely  on  every  attempt  at  familiarity.  He 
drowned  out  all  complaints  against  his  decisions  by 
the  word  duty,  and  he  needed  only  a  higher  field  of 
influence  to  be  a  first-class  tyrant. 

"  Bring  your  prisoner  here  ! "  commanded  the  major, 
placing  his  hands  on  the  sides  of  his  arm-chair  and 
drawing  in  his  legs,  as  if  preparing  to  spring  up  and 
devour  the  pale,  timid  creature  on  whom  he  was  glaring. 
The  "prisoner"  having  been  placed  in  the  immediate 
presence  of  the  august  marshal,  he  seized  a  pen  and 
growled,  as  he  jabbed  it  into  an  ink-bottle  and  drew  a 
sheet  of  paper  before  him,  as  if  about  to  sign  the 
death-warrant  of  his  bitterest  foe,  "  State  case." 

Lieutenant  Cummings  briefly  stated  the  facts  con- 
nected with  Mary's  detention,  and  humbly  volunteered 
the  opinion  that  her  story  was  true. 

"I  judge  that.  Heard  of  this  case.  Simmes  ! '* 
addressing  one  of  the  young  men  on  a  high  stool, 
•'Call  fellow— Townsend— Eighth  Texas." 

Simmes  called  Townsend,  who  was  posted  in  a  back 
room,  awaiting  the  examination.  He  came  in,  Iiat 
in  hand,  looking  as  innocent  and  moral  as  such  a 


"STALE  CASE."  267 

scoundrel  possibly  could.  ' '  Townsend,"  said  the 
major,  glancing  fiercely  up,  "Know  young  woman, 
Warren  ?  " 

"  I  does,  very  well,  sir,  I  reckon,"  said  Townsend, 
glancing  down  at  his  boots. 

"  State  case,"  said  the  major,  again  jabbing  his  pen 
into  the  ink-bottle  and  assuming  a  death-warrant  aspect. 

Townsend  related  his  knowledge  of  the  Warrens 
in  his  own  way,  spoke  about  the  crimes  of  Robert, 
and  the  imprisonment  of  his  father,  and  concluded  by 
saying : 

"  Yeh  can  swar  me,  ef  yeh  choose,  but  though  of 
coiu-se  yeh  knows  more  about  them  things  than  I 
does.  I  'd  say,  if  yeh  do  n'  t  fine  papers  in  that  young 
lady's  trunk  what  '11  prove  what  I  say,  why,  I  think 
I  'd  be  willin'  ter  be  shot." 

'*  Grood  suggestion,  very  fair.  Cummings,  have  this 
young  woman's  trunk  brought  at  once." 

The  lieutenant  brought  Mary  a  chair,  whispered  to 
her  "Don't  be  frightened,"  and  then  left  for  the 
trunk.  In  a  short  time  he  returned,  accompanied  by 
Tom,  who,  faithful  to  his  trust,  staid  with  the  trunk, 
and  now  came  in  crying. 

*' Whose  servant?  "  asked  Major  Kimber. 

He  was  informed  that  the  boy  belonged  to  Miss 
Warren. 

'  *  Boy  !  what  do  you  know  about  this  young  woman  ?  " 
sternly  asked  the  major,  glancing  at  Tom,  who  stood 
terribly  frightened  beside  Mary's  chair. 

"  Maussee,"  replied  Tom,  "  I  does  'nt  know  nothin' 
'bout  Miss  Mary." 

"  Ought  to  have  known  niggers  know  nothing  as 
witnesses.     Cummings,  have  that  tnmk  opened." 


268  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Tlie  lleatenant  asked  Mary  for  the  key,  and  opening 
the  trunk,  beckoned  her  to  his  side  and  said  :  "  Miss 
Warren,  please  let  me  have  all  your  letters,  papers, 
and  journal,  if  you  keep  one.  I  dislike  this  business 
of  searching  your  things." 

Mary  walked  over,  took  out  a  parcel  of  letters,  and 
her  journal,  and,  handing  them  to  the  lieutenant,  said : 
"I  believe  these  are  the  only  papers  in  my  posses- 
sion." 

The  letters  were  principally  to  Robert  from  his 
mother  and  Amy,  and  a  few  to  friends  in  Kentucky. 
Mrs.  Warren's  letters  detailed  all  the  troubles  since 
Robert  left,  and  they  breathed  a  spirit  of  such  devoted 
patriotism  and  maternal  love,  that  Major  Kimber 
said  in  the  middle  of  one  which  he  was  reading 
aloud : 

"  Enough  of  that ;  so  far,  good."  He  opened  Amy's 
letter,  and  muttered  it  over,  reading  aloud  that  part 
which  spok^  of  Townsend's  visit  to  acquaint  them 
with  Robert's  death.  Indeed,  as  Amy  penned  the 
sad  words,  she  was  not  certain  but  the  newspaper 
report  was  correct.  As  Townsend  heard  this  letter,  he 
grew  livid  with  rage,,  and  said  :   "  That  part  's  a  lie." 

"  Hold  your  tongue,  sir.  All  truth  or  no  truth !  " 
said  the  major,  who  evidently  enjoyed  the  description 
of  Townsend's  interview  with  Miss  Board  man.  After 
this  the  journal  was  read.  T*^^  gave  a  daily  sketch  of 
the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  Mary's  trip  so  far  from 
Texas,  and  it  showed  in  the  entry  made  at  Memphis 
that  Colonel  Harrington  promised  to  procure  her  a 
pass  next  day,  and  in  the  note  made  at  Nashville  the 
reception  of  the  pass  and  subsequent  troubles  were 
related.     The  major  deemed  the  case  very  serious. 


SENT  TO  PRISON.  269 

He  felt  that  Miss  Warren,  or  ' '  the  young  woman," 
as  he  called  her,  was  a  dangerous  person,  carrying 
letters  for  the  enemy  and  bearing  with  her  a  journal 
of  very  reliable  information.  *'  She  must  be  held," 
said  the  major. 

"How?"  asked  the  lieutenant. 

"  In  prison,"  said  the  major, 

Poor  Mary,  she  tried  to  explain.  She  protested 
her  innocence  of  any  intention  to  do  wi'ong,  but  she 
was  speaking  to  a  heartless  man. 

That  night  the  gloomy  walls  of  the  Nashville  jail 
hemmed  her  in,  and  Tom  was  taken  in  charge  by  the 
provost  marshal. 


CHAPTER   XXVII 


"WARREN,  GATXES,  AND    THE    TWO   ii>Wi<6 

Robert  Warren's  trip  to  and  from  Vort  Donelson 
was  the  most  successful  scout  of  the  <\'ar  up  to  that 
time,  still  he  did  not  like  the  service  and  made  ap- 
plication to  return  to  his  regiment ,  but  without 
success.  General  Buell  decided  he  was  the  right 
man  in  the  right  place,  and  induced  him  to  act  as  a 
scout  with  General  Grant,  who,  aft  ir  the  battle  at 
Fort  Donelson,  pushed  south  toward  the  Tennessee, 
in  the  direction  of  Pittsbfl'g  Landing.  Robert  had 
an  order  for  such  details  as  he  might  require,  to  be 
filled  under  his  own  direction.  He  had  been  separated 
from  Gaines  for  some  time,  and  took  the  advantage 
of  his  power  to  have  his  old  friend  again  by  his  side. 
Little  Ned  Dawn,  who  had  completely  recovered  from 
his  wound  received  near  Crab  Orchard,  was  warmly 
attached  to  Robert.  He  was  a  brave,  cooWieaded 
boy,  with  a  great  deal  of  natural  intelligence,  and  an 
undoubting,  childlike  faith  in  the  success  of  the 
IJnion  cause  that  was  very  refreshing  to  those  who 
fully  appreciated  the  difficulties  under  v»'hich  the 
Union  troops  fought.  His  grandfather,  though  beyond 
the  age  at  which  troops  were  enlisted  in  the  first  years 
of  the  war,  was  a  strong,  hearty  old  man,  and  the 
best  marksman  in  Allen  Warren's  company,  which  he 
had  been  permitted  to  join.     During  the  long  marches 


WARREN'S  SCOUTING  PARTY.  271 

and  severe  vidette  duty,  from  Donelson  to  the  Ten- 
nessee, he  was  ever  at  his  post,  doing  his  whole  duty, 
and   the   most   uncomplaining   of  men,  when  others 
showed  a  disposition  to  growl.     Captain  "Warren  had 
a  great  deal  of  respect  for  the  old  patriot,  and,  after 
he   had  learned   his  wonderful  powers  of  endurance 
and  his  coolness  and  good  sense  in  danger,  he  con- 
sidered him  the  best  man  in  his  squadron.     However, 
he  was  willing  to  let  him  go  with  Little  Ned  and 
Gaines.     These  three,  with  a  young  Scotchman  named 
Aleck  Cameron,  who  had  worked  as  an  itinerant  watch- 
mender  in  every  part  of  the  State  before  the  war, 
constituted  Robert  Warren's  command.     Robert  had 
been  busy  during  the  whole  campaign,  as  the  Union 
forces  pushed  through  the  very  heart  of  the  secession 
part  of  Tennessee.     The  greater  part  of  the  time  he 
was  absent  from  his  company,  and  now,  as  every  day 
brought  Grant  and  Sidney  Johnston  closer  together, 
he   longed   to  be  with  the  squadron  and  participate 
in   its   actions.     Stories   of  immense   forces   in  and 
around  the  town  of  Corinth  reached  the  Union  Army, 
while   the   rumor  was   daily  spreading  through  the 
Union    camp    that    Forrest   and   Breckinridge   w^ere 
closing  in  from  the  direction  of  Bolivar  and  Memphis. 
Scarce  a  day  passed  without  the  capture  of  small 
bands  of  recruits,  who  were  making  their  way  south 
to  join  Breckinridge,  while  the  roads  were  crowded 
with  fugitives  flying  with  ill-grounded  fears  before  the 
Union  advance. 

At  this  time  Robert  was  not  delighted  to  receive 
an  order  to  scout  in  the  direction  of  Bolivar,  and,  if 
possible,  to  enter  the  town  and  ascertain  the  numbers 
and  intention  of  the   enemy.     The   undertaking,  to 


272  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

him,  was  particularly  difficult,  as  the  Texas  Rangers 
at  that  time  were  in  and  aromid  Bolivar,  and  to  be 
recognized  by  any  of  them  would  be  certain  ruin. 
To  enter  the  lines  of  the  enemy  is  an  easy  matter  at 
any  time.  The  difficulty  of  getting  out  should  be  an 
important  consideration  in  every  plan,  and  in  the 
contemplated  scout  Robert  gave  it  a  fitting  promi- 
nence. He  determined  to  leave  the  Union  lines  in 
the  early  night  and  ride  from  Waynesboro'  northwest 
into  Henderson  County,  a  distance  of  forty  miles,  and 
then  turn  south  toward  Bolivar.  The  whole  distance 
to  be  traveled  was  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  and 
this  he  hoped  to  accomplish  in  one  week.  Dressed 
as  citizens,  well  armed  and  finely  mounted,  Robert 
Warren  and  his  four  men  passed  the  outer  pickets  at 
eight  o'clock  on  the  night  of  March  23.  It  was  very 
dark,  and  a  driving  sleet  from  the  north  beat  in  their 
faces,  and  made  the  gloom  and  blackness  more  op- 
pressive. The  roads  were  in  a  very  bad  condition, 
and  the  frequent  application  of  the  spur  was  necessary 
to  urge  the  animals  against  the  biting  storm  Fre- 
quently  during  the  night  Robert  dismounted  before 
some  house  near  the  roadside  and  inquired  the  road, 
and  the  intimation  that  he  was  a  soldier  going  to  join 
the  forces  near  Bolivar  always  secured  him  the 
desired  information.  By  daylight  the  scouts  reached 
Clayville,  in  Henderson  County,  stiff  and  cold  from 
their  ride  of  forty-three  miles,  and  standing  much  in 
need  of  the  hospitality  extended  to  them  by  Mr. 
Sweeny,  proprietor  of  the  Jackson  House  at  that 
place.  There  were  no  soldiers  in  the  toTV7i,  ?ind  the 
news  of  the  arrival  of  strangers  from  the  outside 
world  soon  brought  all  the  old  men  and  boys  in  town 


WITHIN  THE  ENEMY'S  LINES.  273 

to  the  hotel  to  learn  the  news.  They  had  had  no 
mail  for  a  long  time,  and  the  people  were  despondent, 
for  they  feared  that  another  reverse  like  that  at  Fort 
Donelson  would  end  the  Confederacy. 

Robert  did  the  talking  for  his  party,  and  he  caused 
little  Ned  to  look  up  with  wondering  eyes  as  he  said 
to  an  old  planter  named  Chew,  to  whom  he  had  been 
introduced : 

"No,  sir;  a  dozen  defeats  like  Donelson  will  not 
ruin  our  cause.  You  do  your  duty  at  home,  and  we 
will  do  oiurs  in  the  field.  We  are  willing  to  give  our 
lives  for  our  country.  You  must  be  willing  to  give 
up  your  homes,  if  need  be,  to  save  it." 

"Very  true,"  said  the  old  planter,  while  a  fiery- 
looking  man,  who  walked  with  a  crutch  and  dressed 
very  shabbily,  said : 

"Them's  my  ideas  to  a  dot.  If  yeh  can  't  fight, 
why  give  up  everything  yeh  have  ;  that 's  what  I  've 
got  to  say." 

The  lame  man  emphasized  his  views  by  taking  a 
fresh  chew  of  tobacco,  and  looking  at  the  old  planter 
with  a  stare  that  seemed  to  say  :  "  Now,  shell  out,  old 
skinflint ! " 

"  I  am  willing  to  give  where  my  property  can  be 
used  to  advantage,"  said  Mr.  Chew,  looking  coldly 
at  the  lame  man,  "but  I  don't  see  the  necessity  for 
throwing  it  away  in  order  that  I  may  be  as  poor  as 
my  neighbors." 

"Mr.  Chew,"  said  the  lame  man  savagely,  "I  sent 
my  only  boy  to  fight.  You  sent  no  one  coz  ye  've 
only  got  a  daughter.  Now  you  're  rich,  I  'm  poor ; 
you've  got  seventy  niggars  to  work  for  yeh,  I  ain't 
got  none.    You  voted  fur  secession,  so  did  I,  but  I  'v« 


274  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

got  to  starve  or  work  with  this  d — d  crutch  under  my 
arm,  while  you  are  comfortable,  and  sleep  without 
fearin'  your  boy  will  be  killed  next  fight.  I  ain't  sorry 
fur  what  I  did,  but  it  looks  very  much  as  if  I,  a  poor 
man,  was  givin'  up  all  to  make  you  richer  an'  vsave 
your  niggars." 

*'  Do  n't  rile  so,  Tom  Oliver,"  said  the  landlord,  who 
formed  one  of  the  circle  that  stood  about  Robert, 
"  If  yeh  ever  want  food  or  anything  I  have,  why  come 
after  it  an  I  '11  give  it  yeh." 

*' Yees,  an'  yeh  'd  give  it  in  the  same  way  to  Aunt 
Clop,  the  blind  niggar.  No,  what  I  wants  is  to  get 
support  as  a  right,  not  like  a  beggar.  I  want  this  war 
game  to  be  dealt  out  far.  Should  I  beg,  and  should 
Mrs.  Baker  have  to  take  in  washin'  jes'  coz  I  gave  up 
my  boy,  and  coz  she  sent  her  boy  to  the  war?  It  ain't 
far,  I  be  cussed  if  it  is." 

' '  Gentlemen,' '  said  Robert  after  the  lame  man  had 
concluded,  "I  am  sorry  this  visit  of  mine  should  have 
led  to  any  expression  of  ill-feeling.  This  is  a  time 
for  exercising  the  most  generous  charity,  and  making 
the  greatest  sacrifices.  Our  friend,' '  pointing  to  the 
lame  man,  "  deserves  our  respect  and  support,  so  does 
the  woman  of  whom  he  has  spoken.  Now  permit 
me  with  this  one-hundred-dollar  bill,  in  good  Confed- 
erate money,  to  head  a  subscription  for  those  good 
people,  and  let  every  man  in  your  village  give  what  he 
can  for  the  same  purpose,  and  when  the  sum  is  ex- 
hausted start  a  new  list,  and  I  will  leave  another 
hundred  dollars  with  the  landlord  to  head  it." 

These  remarks  of  Robert  gave  great  satisfaction, 
particularly  to  the  lame  man,  and  his  generous  con- 
duct was  imitated  on  the  spot  by  a  dozen  men.    Invi- 


INTERVIEWING  BRECKINRIDGE.  275 

tationsto  drink  came  in  from  all  sides,  and  Mr.  Chew 
pressingly  invited  lilm  to  his  house,  but  Eobert,  who 
wanted  sleep  and  wished  to  be  in  the  saddle  again 
by  the  afternoon,  thankfully  declined,  and  was  per- 
mitted to  retire  at  once. 

By  four  in  the  afternoon  the  scouts  were  up,  and 
their  horses  saddled.  The  fame  of  Kobert's  act  had 
spread  throughout  the  village,  and  men,  women,  and 
childreyi  gathered  to  wish  him  God-speed  on  his  jour- 
ney, and  pray  for  his  safe  return  from  the  war. 

The  day  after  their  departure  from  Clayville,  the 
scouts  began  to  encounter  small  bodies  of  mounted 
men  and  foraging  parties  from  Bolivar,  They  learned 
that  there  were  some  Texans  there,  but  that  the 
greater  part  of  the  rangers  were  at  Corinth.  It  was 
impossible  to  ascertain  the  strength  of  the  Confeder- 
ate forces  at  Bolivar,  as  he  was  informed  there  was 
great  activity  among  them,  and  the  troops  were  con- 
tinually on  the  move. 

Bobert  hit  upon  his  plan  and  determined  to  enter 
Bolivar  with  his  companions,  and  report  at  once  to 
General  Breckinridge.  About  8  o'clock  at  night,  and 
three  days  after  he  had  left  the  Union  lines,  he  was 
at  a  small  tavern  in  Bolivar,  preparing  to  call  on  Gen- 
eral Breckinridge. 

The  orderly  before  the  general's  headquarters  scru- 
tinized closely  the  large,  heavy-set  man  with  short, 
red  hair  and  long,  red  beard,  who  wished  to  see  Gen- 
eral Breckinridge,  The  general  was  busy  with 
Colonel  Hanson,  and  would  not  like  to  be  disturbed, 
except  on  official  business,  so  the  orderly  said. 

"  Now,  fren',  you  jes'  tell  the  ginral  I  come  from 
Kaintuck,  an'  hev  some  news  fur  him,  Yankee  papers 


f76  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

an'  sich,  an'  I  reckon  he'll  let  Sol  Bums  in.  Tell  him 
I  voted  fur  him  an'  I'll  fight  fur  him,"  So  saying, 
Sol  Burns  walked  forward  as  if  he  would  go  in  with- 
out any  fm*ther  announcement,  but  the  orderly  stepped 
before  him,  and  telling  him  to  wait,  he  entered  the 
general's  room.  He  returned  shortly,  and  Sol  Burns 
was  conducted  in.  There  he  sat  like  a  soldier  prince, 
looking  more  handsome  and  lordly  than  when  Robert 
saw  him  in  Lexington.  Piles  of  papers  were  crowded 
before  him  on  the  table,  and  he  was  evidently  busy 
with  some  writing.  Colonel  Hanson  was  reading,  with 
a  bottle  and  pitcher  beside  him,  and  two  tumblers, 
one  of  which  was  moved  toward  the  general. 

The  general  looked  up  as  he  heard  the  scraping 
sound  of  Sol  Burns's  heavy  boots. 

*' What  do  you  v/ant  with  me,  my  man?"  asked  the 
general,  as  Sol  advanced  with  his  brown  hand  extended. 

"I  wants  to  shake  yer  han',  ginral,  an'  to  give  yeh 
some  news  from  Kaintuck.  Ginral,  I  'm  Sol  Bums, 
from  Owen.     Yeh  know  me " 

"  Yes,  yes,  Mr.  Bums ;  glad  to  see  you,"  said  the 
general,  as  he  shook  hands  with  Sol,  then  took  up  his 
pen  and  crossed  a  "t." 

"  Ginral,  won't  it  be  all  right  to  speak  right  out 
afore  this  gentleman?"  pointing  to  Hanson. 

''Oh,  yes, perfectly  safe.   Please  be  quick,  Mr.  Burns." 

"Wall,  I  will,  ginral.  Thar's  a  lot  of  Yankee 
papers.  Whin  I  corned  through  I  jis'  friz  on  to  'em  ; 
fur,  thinks  I,  the  ginral  will  like  to  see  how  the  Yanks 
gin  him  hell." 

"  Very  kind  in  you,  indeed,"  said  the  general,  seiz- 
ing the  bimdle  eagerly,  and  handing  some  of  the 
papers  to  Colonel  Hanson,  "  but  where  did  you  come 
from,  and  what  do  you  purpose  doing?" 


SOL  BURNS  TAKES  A  DRINK.  277 

"  Wall,  ginral,  me  an'  my  boy  an'  two  neighbors 
lef  home  arter  the  d— d  Yankees  tuk  DonelsonT  We 
couldn't  Stan' it  no  longer.  We  wanted  to  git  tc 
Morgan,  but  the  Yanks  kep'  a  gittin'  in  our  road,  an' 
we  had  to  come  slap  through  'em  a  few  days  ago.  I 
swar  it  made  mv^har  rise  !" 

The  general  dropped  the  paper  and  looked  sharply, 
at  Sol,  who  drew  closer  to  the  table  and  was  toying 
with  the  neck  of  the  black  bottle.  The  general's 
face  immediately  relaxed,  and,  wdth  a  smile,  he  asked 
Sol  if  he  ever  drank. 

"Wall,  not  much,  ginral,  but  I'd  break  an  oath  to 
drink  wath  you." 

The  general  told  him  to  help  himself,  which  Sol 
did  in  the  most  generous  way.  After  this  he  told  the 
general  all  he  knew  about  the  Yankee  forces,  and 
the  knowledge  he  had  picked  up  amazed  the  general, 
for  it  corroborated  in  many  points  information  he 
had  recently  obtained. 

Colonel  Hanson  proposed  to  Sol  that  he  and  his 
friends  should  join  his  regiment,  but  Sol  was  deter- 
mined to  join  Morgan,  and  begged  the  general  to  put 
him  on  the  track.  After  some  further  conversation 
the  general  called  an  officer  from  an  adjoining  room 
and  directed  him  to  take  care  of  Bums  and  his  friend. 

"But,  ginral,"  said  Sol,  as  he  was  going  to  the 
do®r,  "  when  am  I  to  mt  off  to  Morgan  '^" 

*'  I  will  see  you  about  it  in  the  morning,"  said  the 
general.  "  Come  here  about  nine,  and  we  will  talk  it 
all  over." 

Sol  promised  to  do  so,  and,  shaking  hands  with  the 
general   and   Colonel  Hanson,    he   walked   out  with 
Lieutenant  Mason.    The  drizzling  rain  still  continued, 
24 


273  "\V"ARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

and  the  lieutenant  did  not  like  the  idea  of  having  to 
go  to  the  provost  marshal's,  and  perhaps  to  the  recruit 
camp.  Sol  appreciated  the  lieutenant's  position,  and 
informed  him  that  he  could  stay  for  the  night  very 
comfortably  at  the  tavern  where  his  friends  were. 
Being  assured  of  this  the  lieutenant  returned,  refusing 
Sol's  invitation  to  "come  somewhars  an'  takesuthin'." 

There  was  but  little  sleep  for  Robert  that  night. 
He  divided  the  time  with  reliefs,  and  kept  one  of 
the  men  always  on  the  watch  at  the  stable  to  prevent 
the  horses  being  stolen.  He  carefully  thought  over 
every  point  he  had  gained  since  leaving  the  Union 
lines,  and  wondered  as  to  the  course  he  should  pursue 
if  Greneral  Breckinridge  refused  to  let  him  hunt  up 
Morgan's  command,  which  was  at  that  time  in  North- 
eastern Middle  Tennessee. 

At  half-past  eight  o'clock  Sol  Burns,  with  his  hat 
slouched  and  smoking  a  corn-cob  pipe,  passed  down 
the  street  tov/ard  General  Breckinridge's  headquar- 
ters. He  looked  like  a  great,  rough  backwoodsman, 
and  more  than  one  man  whom  he  passed  looked  back 
and  thought  "  that  red- whiskered  chap  would  be  an 
ugly  man  to  handle." 

Sol  Burns  waited  at  the  door  for  the  general's 
arrival,  and  as  he  leaned  against  the  hitching-post  ar 
hand  was  laid  on  his  shoulder  and  a  familiar  voice 
said : 

"  Frien',  give  me  some  of  yer  fire." 

Sol  Bums  did  not  look  up,  but  for  an  instant  his 
heart  stopped  beating  and  a  tremor  ran  through  his 
powerful  frame.  It  was  the  voice  of  Henderson 
Townsend,  made  still  more  certain  by  the  repetition : 

"  Say,  frien',  will  yeh  let  me  have  a  light?" 


AN  UNWELCOME  INTEELOCUTOR.  279 

Knocking  tlie  ashes  from  the  corn-cob  pipe,  Sol 
Burns  said,  "  Sartin,  stranger,  sartin ;"  and  with  his 
eyes  still  cast  dovra  he  handed  the  pipe  in  the  direc- 
tioa  of  the  voice. 

He  heard  the  puffing  incident  to  a  pipe  which  does 
not  draw  well,  and  looking  up  his  fears  were  confirmed. 
There  was  the  freckled,  cadaverous  face  of  Townsend, 
thinner  and  more  repulsive  than  ever. 

"Ain't  yeh  a  feelin'  well,  frien'?"  asked  Townsend 
as  he  handed  back  the  pipe. 

*'  I  'm  feelin*  right  smart,"  said  Sol  Bums,  still 
looking  down. 

"  It  ain't  healthy  weather  somehow  now,"  said 
Townsend. 

"  No,  not  for  some  constitutions,"  said  Sol.  "  1 
suppose,  mister,  you  feel  purty  sick  about  these 
times?" 

"  Wall,  yes ;  I  ain't  just  well.  I've  been  a  ridin' 
hard,  an'  my  reegment  is  alius  a  fightin',  an'  I  got  on 
the  sick  list." 

"  What  is  yer  reegment,  and  whar  is  it  now?"  asked 
Sol,  playing  with  the  handle  of  a  huge  revolver,  which 
protruded  from  the  holster  at  his  side. 

"lb  'long  ter  the  Eighth  Texas.  Some  is  here,  and 
I  specs  they  '11  mosly  be  in  this  evenin'." 

"Yer  kernel's  Wharton,  I  reckox.?"  said  Sol  in  an 
inquiring  tone. 

"  No  ;  Wharton  's  major  or  lieutenan'^-kemel,  don't 
know  which  jes'  now.  Yeh  see  I  ain't  with  'em  much. 
Terry,  yeh  know,  is  kernel."  Townsend  stopped  for 
a  second,  and  continued,  "  I  'm  a  waitin'  ter  see 
Wharton  here  this  momin'..  I  heerd  he  'd  be  along  to 
see  Gineral  Breckinridge." 


280  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

As  Townsend  spoke  General  Breckinridge  passed 
in,  and,  recognizing  Sol  Bums,  he  told  him  to  enter, 
which  Sol  very  quickly  did. 

"Burns,"  said  the  general,  "  I  think  it  will  be  im- 
possible for  you  to  reach  Morgan  at  present.  How- 
ever, I  will  let  you  try.  You  will  return  if  you  meet 
the  Yankees ;  but  first  find  out  all  you  can  about 
them.  You  must  go  by  way  of  Pittsburg  Landing  and 
around  by  Tuscumbia.  I  will  have  passes  for  your- 
self and  men.  Lieutenant  Mason  will  attend  to  it.  I 
think  it  best,  however,  in  case  you  should  be  captured^ 
that  you  and  your  friends  should  first  be  mustered  into 
the  Confederate  States  service.  I  will  make  you  a 
sergeant,  and  give  you  charge  of  the  party.  Come 
here  about  noon." 

"  Very  well,  ginral,  I  '11  be  along  and  git  mustered," 
said  Sol  as  he  walked  out.  He  passed  TouTisend  out- 
side, and  resisted  that  individual's  efforts  to  draw  him 
into  conversation. 

Returning  to  the  hotel,  he  left  Little  Ned  in  charge 
of  the  horses,  and  giving  instructions  to  the  rest  they 
walked  out  and  rambled  around  the  town  and  camp, 
each  one  taking  a  different  course,  and  returning  to 
the  tavern  at  noon.  Gaines  was  disguised,  but  as  he 
had  no  control  over  his  voice  Bobert  instructed  him 
to  speak  guardedly,  and  to  see  that  there  were  no 
Texan  men  near  should  he  get  into  conversation  with 
any  person. 

At  the  appointed  time  Sol  Burns  reported  at  Gen- 
eral Breckinridge's  headquarters,  and  after  some  delay 
he  succeeded  in  getting  in,  when  he  was  sent  to  Lieu- 
tenant Mason's  desk.  The  lieutenant  had  a  pass  al- 
ready signed,  and  in  which  he  wrote  the  names  of 


TOWNSE>.D'S  FRIGHT.  281 

Sol  Burns  and  his  friends.  He  gave  him  the  pass, 
and  a  letter  to  the  mustering  officer,  and  telling  him 
to  return  in  the  afternoon,  as  the  general  wished  to 
see  him,  he  motioned  him  toward  the  door.  As  he 
passed  out  he  met  Townsend,  and  not  expecting  tc 
see  him,  he  looked  him  directly  in  the  face.  And  an 
ashy  pallor  came  over  To^vnsend's  face  as  their  eyes  met, 
and  he  staggered  against  the  post  with  his  mouth 
open.  Sol  Burns  saw  the  change,  and,  walking  up,  said, 
*'  Stranger  I  reckon  yer  sickness  is  wus  than  it  was?" 

"God,  ye've  nearly  skeered  me  out  o'  my  boots," 
said  Townsend,  gasping.  "  I  reckon  my  wits  is  leavin' 
me.  Bentley,  who's  jes'  gone  ter  camp,  and  I  was  walkin 
'long,  and  I  seed  a  fellar  I  know'd  ter  be  dead.  An' 
jes'  as  you  com'd  out  that  ar  door  I'd  a  swore  yeh 
wus  a  chap  named  Bob  Warren.  He's  dead  too,  sir — 
it  makes  me  sick." 

*' I  reckon  ye've  been  drinkin' right  smart,"  said 
Sol.  "  Drink's  bad  fur  the  eyes.  Kin  you  tell  m.e, 
stranger,  whar  I'll  find  Cap'n  Pollock's  office,  him  as 
swars  fellers  ?" 

Townsend  gave  the  desired  information,  and  Sol 
Bums  sauntered  leisurely  away.  Once  he  dropped  his 
pipe,  and  stooping  to  pick  it  up  he  looked  between  his 
legs  and  saw  Townsend  gazing  after  him  with  the 
greatest  earnestness.  Turning  a  corner  he  quickened 
his  gait  and  hurried  to  the  tavern.  He  found  Gaines 
very  much  excited  and  alarmed.  He  had  passed 
Bentley  and  Townsend,  and  he  heard  Townsend  repeat 
his  name,  and  make  some  remark  to  Bentley.  He  tried 
to  be  cool,  but  they  followed  him  for  some  distance, 
and  he  returned  to  the  tavern  feeling  convinced  that 
they  watched  him.  "  We  must  leave  here  inside  of 
24* 


JS2  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

ten  minutes.  Be  calm,  Gaines.  Ned,  saddle  your 
horse  and  mine.  Be  sure  the  girths  are  right.  Lead 
the  horses  to  the  door  and  hold  them  with  the  bridle- 
reins  over  their  heads  till  I  come." 

"  All  right,  sir,"  said  little  Ned,  walking  to  the 
stable,  "  I'll  have  dem  out  in  ten  seconds." 

Old  Dawn  and  Aleck  Cameron  returned  from  their 
trip  quite  calm,  but  the  latter  was  somewhat  nervous 
when  he  heard  Robert's  now  decided  order  to  saddle 
and  mount. 

Robert  entered  the  tavern,  before  which  there  was 
a  crowd  of  soldiers,  and  asked  for  his  bill.  While  the 
landlord  was  mentally  calculating  the  amount,  he  took 
out  the  pass  signed  by  G-eneral  Breckinridge,  and 
showing  it  to  a  tall  young  man  with  long  hair  and  a 
broad-brimmed  hat,  he  asked  him  which  was  the  best 
road  to  Corinth. 

"  Thar's  only  one  road,  stranger,  and  that's  about 
as  fit  to  wagon  over  as  cold  mush  is  to  make  bricks 
of,"  said  the  young  man. 

"  I  reckon  the  roads  is  bad,  but  I'm  agoin'  on  horse- 
back. Got  orders  to  go  on  at  once,  an'  thar's  no  use 
a  tryin'  to  git  out  of  it,"  said  Robert,  folding  the  pass 
and  putting  it  in  his  pocket. 

The  young  man  gave  the  proper  directions.  The 
road  ran  past  General  Forrest's  headquarters,  and  con- 
tinued nearly  southeast. 

Robert  settled  the  bill,  treated  every  body  in  the 
bar-room,  including  the  landlord,  and  mounting  with 
his  companions,  he  rode  leisurely  out  of  Bolivar.  As 
they  passed  Forrest's  headquarters  they  saw  Colonel 
"Wharton  and  Bentley  busy  in  conversation.  Bentley 
was   gesticulating  with   a   gi-eat   deal   of  emphasis, 


PURSUED.  283 

while  Whai'ton  looked  at  the  ground,  stroked  his  yel- 
low moustache,  and  nervouly  swayed  himself  back  and 
forth  on  his  heels.  Robert  appeared  not  to  notice 
them,  but  his  presence  startled  both  the  men.,  for  they 
suddenly  stopped  their  conversation,  and  gazed  earn- 
estly after  the  little  cavalcade.  Still  Robert  contin- 
ued at  a  walk,  and  after  they  had  gone  about  fifty 
yards  beyond  where  Wharton  stood,  he  whispered  to 
little  Ned  to  look  back.  Ned  did  so,  and  reported 
the  two  men  they  had  passed  walking  hurriedly  in  the 
direction  of  General  Breckinridge's  headquarters.  It 
was  two  hundred  yards  ahead  to  a  turn  in  the  road, 
and  over  that  distance  the  scouts  rode  their  horses, 
never  looking  back.  Passing  the  turn,  Robert  has- 
tily directed  the  men  to  look  to  their  arms  and  see  if 
all  v.-as  right.  This  done,  he  asked  each  man-  if  his 
horse  was  in  good  condition,  and  received  an  affirma- 
tive reply. 

"  Well,  boys,  we  have  a  hard  ride  before  us,  and 
perhaps  a  hard  fight ;  before  twenty  minutes  we  will 
be  pursued.  Keep  well  together,  and  remember  there 
is  a  rope  awaiting  in  Bolivar  for  the  man  that  surren- 
ders." 

There  was  no  reply  to  these  remarks  of  Rot)ert, 
but  he  saw  the  determined  faces,  and  the  shortened 
hold  the  men  took  of  their  bridle-reins. 

''  Follow  me  !"  As  Robert  said  this  he  struck  the 
spurs  into  the  sleek  sides  of  Don,  and  the  noble  ani- 
mal ^evi  ahead,  and  the  others  followed  close  at  the 
same  rapid  gait. 

Tv>o  miles  out  they  vrere  halted  by  some  pickets, 
and  Robert  produced  the  pass  which  enabled  them  to 
keep  on.     For  three  hours,  till  the  sun  began  to  set 


284  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

over  the  western  line  of  tall  trees,  the  scouts  kept 
on  at  the  same  fiy'mg  rate.  As  they  were  rising  a 
declivity,  little  Ned's  horse  became  perceptibly  lame, 
and  they  discovered  that  he  had  cast  a  shoe  some 
time  before,  judging  from  the  broken  condition  of  his 
hoof.  On  gaining  the  crest  of  the  ridge  they  had  a 
view  of  the  Bolivar  road  for  four  miles,  and  ds  Kobert 
turned  to  look  back,  he  saw  a  body  of  galloping 
horsemen  standing  out  like  black  silhouettes  against 
the  red  western  sky. 

"Ned,  take  the  bridle  and  saddle  off  your  horse, 
quick  !  There,  chase  him  into  the  woods.  Throw  the 
traps  behind  that  log."  Ned  did  as  Robert  directed. 
*'  Now  jump  up  behind  me,  quick.  Hold  on  hard." 
Ned  vaulted  up  lightly  behind  Robert,  and  again  the 
powerful  Don  bounded  ahead,  evidently  unconscious 
of  the  extra  weight  he  carried.  It  was  gi'owing  dark 
rapidly.  They  were  a  good  thirty  miles  from  Bolivar, 
and  four  ahead  of  their  pursuers,  if  pursuers  they 
were.  The  road  led  through  a  dense  wood  for  about 
two  miles,  and  it  was  so  bad  that  the  horses  could 
only  struggle  along  at  a  brisk  walk.  Beyond  the 
woods  the  road  forked,  and  Robert  unhesitatingly 
wheeled  to  the  left,  knov/ing  from  the  course  that  it 
led  in  the  direction  of  the  Union  Army.  For  two 
hours  the  horses  staggered  through  the  mire  and  over 
patches  of  corduroy  that  seemed  afloat  in  the  fluid 
mud,  then  suddenly  the  road  terminated,  and  a  broad 
swollen  river  flovved  across  the  path  of  the  scouts. 
There  was  no  time  to  lose.  Riding  a  short  distance 
up  the  bank  all  dismounted,  and  Robert  took  the  sad- 
dle ofi"  Don,  and  stripping  off"  all  his  own  clothing  he 
buckled  his  pistol  belt  around  his  waist  and  mounted. 


CROSSING  THE  RUBICON.  2b5 

*'  Aleck  Cameron,  let  Ned  hold  your  horse.  Go 
back  Vvdthin  calling  distance  on  the  road,  and  if  you 
hear  horsemen  advancing  call  me  at  once.  Gaines, 
let  Dawn  hold  your  horse,  and  come  to  the  river  bank 
with  your  grazing  rope,  to  aid  me  if  necessary.  There 
was  a  ferry  here  once,  I  see,  so  that  the  chances  of 
fording  are  small, 'but  I'll  try  it." 

The  disposition  of  the  little  force  was  quickly  made, 
and  Robert  rode  to  the  water's  edge.  Don  stooped, 
drank  for  a  few  seconds,  then  showed  a  disposition  to 
withdraw  his  fine  fore  limbs  from  the  nmd  into  which 
they  were  sinking,  and  go  back,  but  the  rider  shook 
the  bridle,  pressed  his  heels  to  the  hot,  sleek  sides, 
and  Don  cautiously  waded  in.  A  few  yards  of  mud 
and  cold  water,  then  horse  and  rider  sank  for  a  sec- 
ond in  the  black  river,  and  emerging,  the  panting 
animal  headed  for  the  opposite  shore,  whose  indistinct 
outline  seemed  miles  away.  Gradually  the  white  form 
and  the  puffing  sounds  of  the  horse  seemed  lost  down 
the  river,  where  the  merciless  current  was  bearing 
them.  The  men  on  shore  in  breathless  anxiety 
watched  the  perilous  undertaking,  and  though  dis- 
appointed in  the  result,  it  was  with  a  feeling  of  satis- 
faction they  saw  the  white  form  nearing  the  shore 
which  he  left,  two  hundred  yards  further  down. 

"  We  can 't  cross  here,  that's  settled.  Come,  Ned,  let 
your  grandfather  hold  the  horses ;  walk  Don  up  and 
down  as  fast  as  you  can  while  I  dress." 

Robert's  teeth  chattered  with  the  severe  chilling 
he  had  just  received,  but  he  was  not  conscious  of  cold 
or  fatigue.  All  his  thoughts  vrere  busy  considering 
theu'  situation  and  planning  for  escape.  His  fears 
were  not  personal ;  the  success  of  the  undertaking. 


286  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

and  tiie  return  to  the  Union  lines  with  the  valuable 
information  he  had  obtained,  were  the  great  incentives 
that  moved  him. 

Resactdling  Don,  Aleck  Cameron  was  recalled,  and 
Kobert  decided  to  ride  down  the  river.  If  pursued, 
the  enemy  had  already  passed  the  cross-roads  going 
in  the  direction  of  Shiloh,  or  had  come  in  on  the  one 
they  had  taken.  The  latter  was  the  most  natural 
inference,  as  they  would  be  guided  at  a  doubtful  point 
by  the  tracks  in  the  mud.  Down  the  river,  over  creeks, 
through  patches  of  timber,  and  across  soft,  miry  fields 
they  urged  their  horses  till  a  grey  streak  in  the  east 
told  them  that  day  was  approaching.  Seeing  a  light 
ahead,  and  feeling  the  necessity  for  feeding  their 
horses  aud  refreshing  themselves,  the  whole  party 
rode  boldly  up,  and  dismounted  before  a  cluster  of 
negro  cabins,  where  the  hands  were  up  and  busy  with 
their  morning  meal.  In  answer  to  Robert's  question 
of  "Who  lives  here?"  at  the  door  of  a  cabin,  an  old 
negro,  evidently  confused  at  the  sudden  appearance 
Srthe  horsemen,  said,  "Nobody  does'nt  lib  heah, 
mausser.    This  is  jest  a  plantation." 

"Who  owns  the  plantation?"  asked  Robert. 

**  Mausser  Mclntyre,  mausser." 

"A  good  Scotch  name,"  said  Aleck  Cameron,  draw- 
ing near. 

'  •  Where  does  Mr.  Mclntyre  live  ?"  asked  Robert. 

"  Oh,  he 's  done  gone  to  Bolver.  Libs  dar,  *cept 
sometimes  comes  down  to  see  how  we  gits  on,"  said 
the  old  negro,  in  a  more  composed  tone. 

"  What  is  your  overseer's  name,  and  where  is  his 
house?"  asked  Robert,  throwing  Don's  bridle  to  Little 
Ned. 


SAMPSON— RELIEF.  287 

"De  overseer's  name  's  Sampson,  sah,  an'  he  libs 
heah  in  dis  house.  I 's  de  overseer,  mauss."  The 
old  negro  evidently  thought  this  a  joke,  for  he  indulged 
in  a  chuckling  laugh. 

"  Glad  to  see  you,  Sampson,"  said  Robert  by  way 
of  introduction."  Are  there  many  colored  overseers 
in  this  section  ?" 

"  Oh  yes,  mauss ;  lots  since  the  wah.'* 

"Well,  Sampson,  myself  and  friends  have  been 
riding  all  night  trying  to  find  a  crossing  in  this  infernal 
river.     What  do  you  call  it?" 

"  White  Oak  Creek,  mauss." 

"  It  is  certainly  a  gentle  creek.  Now,  Uncle  Samp- 
son, I  want  to  pay  you  well  for  whatever  help  you  give  me^ 
Can  you  feed  our  horses  and  get  us  something  to  eat  ?" 

"Lor',  mauss,  I  kin  feed  de  bosses,  but  we  ain't  got 
nothin'  wot  white  folks  ud  eat  no  how,"  said  Samp- 
son, with  a  closing  chuckle. 

"  What  have  you  to  eat  ?" 

"  Oh,  corn  bread  an'  bacon,  an'  milk.  Den  dars 
chickens  an'  eggs,  but  de  folks  about  owns  'em,  and 
sets  a  big  price  on  'em." 

**  I  don 't  care  about  the  price.  Now  call  out  some 
one  and  have  the  horses  put  in  a  dry  place  and  fed 
and  well  rubbed.     You  understand  ?" 

"Yes,  sah." 

In  a  few  seconds  the  jaded  horses  were  divested  of 
their  equipments,  and,  under  the  superintendence  of 
Gaines,  they  were  being  attended  to.  In  the  mean- 
time Sampson  called  some  black  people  and  made  a 
requisition  for  eggs,  v.-hile  the  weary  scouts  carried 
their  saddles  into  the  cabin  and  warmed  themselves 
as  they  rested  around  the  blazing  fire. 


288  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

The  cooking  was  done  in  a  shanty  close  by,  from 
which  came  the  sputtering  sound  of  frying  bacon  and 
the  metallic  ring  of  the  hot  oven  lid. 

Sampson  rightly  judged  the  appetites  of  the  hungry 
men  by  his  expedition  and  the  large  quantities  of 
food  he  prepared.  When  the  meal  of  corn-dodgers, 
bacon,  eggs,  and  boiled  milk  was  brought  in  the  old 
negro,  who  stood  watching  the  men  as  they  ate,  seemed 
lost  in  wonder,  and  uttered  at  every  huge  mouthful, 
"  Good  Lor' !  dat  beats  ebryting !  Neber  knowd 
sich  !  Ki  yi,  but  dat  ar  egg  jest  went  quick  !  Reckon 
dem  gen'lmen  wuz  neber  ^veaned.  Dey  jest  goes  fur 
de  milk,  sartin !" 

Never  did  men  enjoy  a  meal  more  than  Warren's 
scouts  the  breakfast  prepared  by  the  negroes,  and 
Robert,  who  knew  very  well  that  every  particle  of  it, 
excepting  the  eggs,  came  from  the  weekly  allowance 
of  the  hands,  determined  to  remunerate  them  well  for 
their  kindness. 

After  breakfast  he  learned  from  Sampson  that  they 
were  only  forty-five  miles  from  Bolivar,  though  they 
must  have  ridden  over  seventy.  They  were  ten  miles 
from  the  Shiloh  road,  and  about  twenty  from  the 
Tennessee  river.  Sampson  also  informed  him  that 
the  plantation  was  seldom  visited,  and  the  nearest 
white  people  were  a  mile  off.  Robert  knew  the  negro 
character  thoroughly,  and  he  determined  to  trust  this 
old  man,  who  certainly  must  be  reliable  to  be  en- 
trusted by  his  master  with  the  care  of  twenty  hands 
and  two  hundred  acres  of  cotton. 

"  Sampson,  are  you  a  secessionist  or  a  Union  man  ?" 
asked  Robert,  as  he  lit  his  pipe  and  stretched  himself 
beside  Gaines  on  the  hearth. 


SAMPSON  DEFINES  HIS  POSITION.  289 

*'  Oh,  mauss,  I  ain't  notliin',  'cept,  praise  de  Lor', 
I 's  a  Methodist !"  said  Sampson^  leaning  against  the 
wide  chimney  side,  and  looking  earnestly  at  his  ques- 
tioner. 

"And  a  very  good  road  the  Methodists  have  marked 
out  to  the  better  land,  Sampson.  No  corduroys  oi 
pontoons,  but  direct  and  straight." 

"  Yes,  mauss,"  interrupted  Sampson,  in  a  severely 
religious  tone,  "but  de  straight  an'  narrer  road's 
filled  wud  truble  an'  kar',  like  great  rocks,  an'  many 
ob  de  poor  sinners  gwine  home  to  glory  stumble 
an'  fall,  an'  git  womed  an'  come  back ;  but  praise  de 
Lor',  mauss,  I'll  keep  on  a  few  years  more,  an'  I'll 
reach  de  ribber  as  you  did,  but  de  ferry  will  be  dar,  an' 
de  new  life,  an'  frien's  on  de  odder  bank,  an'  de  Lamb 
who  '11  take  de  trubbled  to  His  bres',  an'  make  all  like 
a  liddle  chile." 

The  conversation  had  taken  a  religious  turn  which 
Robert  had  not  expected,  but  he  was  glad  of  it,  for  it 
confirmed  his  previous  opinion  of  the  old  man. 

*'  Do  you  think  the  war  very  wicked,  Sampson?'* 

"  "Wall,  mauss,  I  's  only  a  darkey ;  do  n't  matter 
what  I  tinks.  De  Lor'  of  Battles  kin  only  fight  on 
one  side,  an'  when  He  bares  de  arm  for  destruction, 
no  man  kin  stan'." 

"How  would  you  treat  the  Yankees  if  they  were  to 
come  here,  Sampson?" 

*'  Jes',  mauss,  as  I  've  treated  you ;  for  de  Lor*  says, 
*As  yeh've  helped  de  smallest  ob  dese,  so  I  '11  stan' 
by  you :'  an'  sometimes  we  keers  fur  angels  in  de 
skies,"  (disguise.) 

"  "Would  it  frighten  you,  Sampson,  if  I  were  to  tell 
you  that  myself  and  friends  are  Yankees,  and  that  we 
25 


290  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

have  lost  our  way,  and  would  you  aid  us  to  get  to  the 
Union  lines?" 

llobert  sat  up  as  he  spoke,  and  he  and  his  compan- 
ions watched  the  countenance  of  the  old  darkey.  He 
evinced  but  little  surprise ;  indeed  a  look  of  incredu- 
lity gradually  spread  over  his  face,  and  with  a  forced 
smile,  Sampson  said : 

**  Now,  mauss,  yeh  knows  I  do  n'  t  want  to  do  no 
harm ;  I  *s  jes'  an'  ole  darkey,  doin*  all  de  Lor*  calls 
me  to  do,  neider  lookin'  to  de  right  nor  de  lef." 

Robert  rose  and  taking  the  black  man's  hand  in  his, 
he  looked  earnestly  into  his  eyes  for  a  few  seconds, 
and  the  mild,  dark  eyes  of  the  negro  met  his  with  the 
confidence  of  a  child. 

"  Sampson,  I  belong  to  the  Union  Army  ;  I  would 
not  deceive  you.  You  know  we  are  the  friends  of  the 
black  man.     Can  I  depend  on  you  for  aid?" 

llobert  did  not  stop  to  think  as  he  said  "we  are  the 
friends  of  the  black  man,"  for  at  that  very  time  every 
negro  who  sought  the  Union  lines,  in  the  hope  of  free- 
dom, was  reshackled  by  the  Union  troops,  anxious  to 
conciliate  treason,  and  handed  over  to  the  person  who 
claimed  to  be  his  master.  Sampson  knew  this,  for 
a  system  of  carrying  news  prevailed  among  the  slaves 
of  the  South  really  marvelous  when  we  consider  their 
advantages. 

"  Mausser,  de  slaves  have  no  frien'  but  de  Lor'.  My 
son,  my  only  chile,  'scaped  to  de  Yankee  Army  one 
month  ago.  His  mudder  libed  on  anodder  place.  His 
mausser  went  to  de  Yankee  sojers,  an'  dey  gabe  him 
de  chile."  Here  the  tears  began  to  course  down  the 
old  man's  face,  and  he  drew  his  rough  coat-sleeve 
across  his  eyes. 


A  TOUCHING  STORY.  291 

""Well,  where  is  your  boy  now,  Sampson?"  asked 
Robert,  nervously. 

"  Grone ;  gone,  mausser,  whar  de  weary  head 's  at 
res'.  Dey  brought  Bill  back,  to  make  a  zample  of, 
his  mausser  said.  An'  dey  tied  him  up  afore  all  de 
ban's  of  all  de  plantations  roun'  fur  miles.  I  wuz  dar, 
mausser;  I  wuz  dar,  an'  his  mudder  wuz  dar — de 
chile's  mudder  wuz  dar !" 

The  old  man  walked  to  the  little,  rude  bedstead, 
and  bowed  his  head  upon  his  hands  as  he  sat  down, 
while  the  hot  tears  flowed  through  his  long  fingers. 
No  word  was  spoken  for  some  time,  when  the  old  man 
raised  his  head  and  continued  : 

"Dey  whipped  him  till  de  blood  poured  to  de 
groun' ;  till  he  could  n't  cry  any  mor* ,  an'  jes'  hung 
by  his  ban's,  wud  his  head  on  his  shoulder  an'  groaned. 
Dey  kep'  him  dar  all  day  wud  de  sun  a  shinin*  on  his 
bloody  back,  an'  no  one  could  gib  'im  a  drink.  Dat 
night  dey  cut  de  ropes,  an'  Bill  fell  dead  on  de  groun' ! 
Mauss,  do  n't  blame  me  fur  cryin' ;  I 's  ole  an'  weak, 
an'  Bill  wuz  my  only  boy.  I  did  n't  hab  much  in  de 
worl'  afore  ;  dar 's  nothin'  now." 

Every  eye  was  moist  as  the  old  man  finished  his 
story,  and  little  Ned  sobbed  aloud.  The  old  man  no- 
ticed him,  and  said : 

"  Do  n't  fret,  honey ;  de  good  Lor*  knows  what  *s 
bes'  fur  dose  He  lubs.  I  'se  willin' ;  I  'se  willin',  what- 
ever come." 

Robert  was  busy  for  some  minutes  with  his  own 
thoughts.  The  whole  hideousness  of  slavery  dawned 
on  his  mind  as  never  before,  and  v/hen  again  he  spoke 
it  was  with  the  resolve  to  add  freedom  to  Union  in 
the  motives  that  led  him  to  battle. 


292  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"  Sampson,  my  heart  is  very  sad  at  your  story,  but 
your  shackles  will  be  melted  in  the  fiimace  of  this 
terrible  war.     Wait,  God  is  directing  ns." 

"  Yes,  mausser,  I 's  willin'  to  wait,  trustin'  in  de 
Lor'.  An'  now,  mauss,  anything  I  kin  do  fur  yeh  dat 
won't  barm  Mauss  Mclntyre,  I  '11  do." 

"  I  am  obliged  to  you,  Sampson.  I  want  you  to  let 
me  stay  here,  or  some  place  near  here,  where  our 
horses  can  rest  till  the  evening,  and  then  send  a  man 
who  can  guide  us  to  the  Tennessee  or  to  some  point 
where  I  can  cross  this  river." 

*' Mausser,  yeh  kin  all  res'  here,  I  reckon,  till  de 
night.  I 's  got  a  boat  about  two  miles  down  de  crik. 
We  kin  put  all  de  tings  in  dat  an'  swim  de  bosses." 

"Just  the  thing,  Sampson  ;  I  do  n't  like  rafts.  You 
are  sure  we  are  safe  here  ?" 

*'Sartin,  shuah,  mauss.'* 

"  Very  well ;  I  will  keep  a  guard  up  to  look  out  for 
danger,  and  I  want  you  to  tell  me  if  any  white  man 
approaches." 

**I  will,  mauss ;  an'  now  I  hope  yeh  kin  res',  an*  dat 
de  Lor'  will  guard  yeh." 

Robert  stood  guard  first  while  the  others  slept,  and 
Sampson  went  to  the  fields. 

Though  one  of  the  scouts  was  kept  continually 
on  guard  during  the  day,  the  whole  party  had  a 
good  rest  by  five  in  the  afternoon.  Sampson  had 
shown  more  interest  in  this  guard  duty  than  could 
have  been  expected,  for  in  the  early  morning  he  sent 
out  two  men  some  miles  from  the  place,  one  up  the 
creek  and  the  other  out  toward  the  Shiloh  road,  to 
report  the  advance  of  any  white  men.  Shortly  after 
five  the  black  man  stationed  up  the  creek  came  run- 


«DE  LOK'  OB  ISRAEL  TVATCH  YEHI'»  293 

ning  back,  breathless  with  fear  and  fatigue.  He  re- 
ported ten  horsemen,  all  armed,  coming  toward  the 
plantation.  Sampson  was  on  hand  in  a  moment,  and 
the  horses  were  saddled.  Eobert  in  the  mean  time 
forced  a  fifty-dollar  United  States  note  into  the  reluct- 
ant hand  of  the  old  man. 

"  I  do  not  want  to  get  you  into  trouble,  Sampson ; 
but  where  can  I  find  that  boat,  if  I  need  it  V  asked 
Robert.  "' 

Sampson  quickly  described  its  location,  and  gave 
him  the  key  that  unlocked  it. 

"  Now,  Sampson,  I  am  off.  Grod  bless  you  !  De- 
tain those  men,  whoever  they  may  be,  as  long  as  you 
can.  If  I  find  the  boat,  and  get  a  half  hour's  start, 
I  will  laugh  at  the  rebels." 

"  May  de  Lor*  ob  Israel  watch  yeh,  mauss !"  said 
Sampson  as  the  scouts  mounted.  Then,  seeing  little 
Ned  leaping  up  behind  Robert,  he  continued :  «*  'Fore 
Heaven,  I  'd  like  to  git  a  boss  fur  dat  chile,  but  I  've 
only  got  mules." 

*'  Thank  you,  Uncle  Sampson,  mules  are  two  slow. 
This  horse  can  carry  us,"  said  Robert,  as  he  patted 
the  arched  neck  of  the  noble  Don.  "  And,  now,  good- 
bye.    I  will  never  forget  you  !" 

A  repetition  of  the  direction,  and  a  promise  from 
Sampson  to  meet  them  at  the  boat,  in  case  they  wt,re 
not  across,  shortly  after  dark,  and  the  scouts  rode 
down  the  river. 

There  was  no  chance  to  cover  up  tracks,  and  no 
course  but  the  bold  one  of  getting  to  the  boat  and 
crossing  before  their  pursuers  were  upon  them.  The 
horses  were  fresh,  and  they  passed  out  of  sight  of 
Mclntyre's  plantation  and  down  the  river  road,  or 


25* 


«91  WATIREN  OF  TEXAb'. 

Fathtrf*  trail-  lOi  it  was  an  irregular  bridle-path — in  less 
time  than  it  takes  to  write.  A  mile  down  the  river 
and  the  path  made  a  detour  to  the  right,  but  Robert 
deemed  it  wisest  to  keep  to  the  river's  bank  till  they 
found  the  boat  About  a  half  mile  down  the  creek 
they  came  upon  a  broad,  partially-flooded  swamp. 
They  had  to  ride  around  it,  and  in  doing  so  they 
struck  the  bridle-path  again.  That  detour  cost  them 
fifteen  minutes,  but  they  tried  to  make  it  up  by  in- 
creasing the  speed  of  the  already  flying  animals.  They 
passed  a  plantation  and  the  hands  coming  in  from 
work  stopped  to  gaze  in  wonder  at  the  excited  horse- 
men. Beyond  the  plantation  Robert  recognized  the 
clump  of  trees  below  which  Sampson  told  him  the 
boat  was  fastened.  Already  he  began  to  feel  safe, 
and,  dashing  to  the  river's  bank,  there  was  the  boat. 

"  Dismount  quick,  Graines ;  take  your  rifle  and  start 
back  to  the  timber,  where  you  can  see  any  approach. 
You  will  know  Bentley  or  that  crowd.  Fire  a  pistol  if 
they  approach.     I  will  fire  one  to  call  you  back." 

Gaines  sprang  from  his  horse,  and  with  a  pale,  de- 
termined face  ran  back  to  the  woods. 

"  Now,  unsaddle,  men,  while  I  get  this  boat  loose.'* 
As  Robert  spoke  he  searched  for  the  key,  and  at  the 
same  time  hurried  to  the  frail  boat.  First  one  pocket, 
then  another.     There  was  no  key. 

"Pile  in  the  saddles  while  I  break  this  lock." 
Robert  looked  around  for  a  stone,  but  saw  none.  He 
seized  a  heavy  stick,  and  as  he  raised  it  to  break  the 
staple  the  crack  of  Gaines's  rifle  was  heard,  followed 
by  a  wild  yell,  which  Robert  too  well  knew. 

"  Dawn,  Aleck — your  rifles  ;  follow  me !  Ned,  fas- 
ten the  horses,  then  come  on  '" 


A  FIERCE  ENCOUNTER.  295 

Robert  spoke  rapidly,  but  acted  still  quicker.  With 
the  light,  quick  bound  of  an  Indian  he  rushed  into 
the  woods,  where  Graines  stood  capping  his  rifle.  He 
bad  not  fired  in  vain,  fur  as  the  four  men  met  a  rider- 
less horse  dashed  past  them. 

"  Bentley  and  his  gang !"  said  Graines.  * '  I  see  them. 
They  ha-e  halted.  Keep  under  cover  of  the  tree,  and 
fire  coolly  every  chance." 

The  pursuers  were  checked  for  an  instant,  then  they 
quickly  rallied,  and,  with  pistols  cocked,  nine  horse- 
men dashed  into  the  wood.  Close  up  within  one  hun- 
dred yards  and  n3t  a  shot  was  fired ;  within  fifty  yards, 
and  the  horseman  in  advance  checked  up  for  a  moment 
and  fired  his  pistol  at  Ned,  who  was  in  full  sight,  ad- 
vancing. It  was  a  fatal  move,  for  five  rifles  blazed  in 
in  instant,  and  the  first  horse  tumbled  to  the  gi'ound 
and  the  rider  sprang  from  the  animal  to  see  three  of 
his  companions  stretched  on  the  earth. 

"  Now,  boys  !"  shouted  Bentley — for  he  it  was — 
"  we  've  got  'em.  Hurrah !"  And  he  dashed  ahead, 
followed  by  his  mounted  comrades. 

The  scouts  had  not  time  to  reload  their  rifles,  but 
drew  their  pistols  and,  springing  from  their  cover, 
fired  at  the  Texans,  who  were  upon  them.  Gaines 
was  but  a  few  feet  from  Bentley  when  both  men  fired 
then  with  the  fierceness  of  tiger-cats  they  sprang  upon 
each  other  with  drawn  kr.ives.  Gaines  slipped  and 
went  down,  but  little  Ned  saw  it,  and  with  a  powerful 
blow  from  hss  clubbed  rifle  Bentley  was  brought  to  the 
ground.  The  remaining  Texans  hurriedly  sprang  be- 
hind the  trees,  having  dismounted ;  and  Warren, 
leaving  the  wounded  Gaines  on  the  ground,  sought  a 
like  shelter  in  the  direction  of  the  horses.     But  now 


296  WARRE]S  .01  TEXAb. 

a  new  danger  assailed  them.  Four  men,  with  savage 
yells,  came  rujjning  in  from  the  left  of  the  woods. 
Robert  turned  to  look  at  the  enemy's  re-enforcement, 
when  to  his  astonishment  and  delight  he  saw  the  leadc  r, 
a  powerful  man,  stopping  and  deliberately  firing  on  the 
Texans.  His  companions  were  about  to  follow  his 
example,  when  the  Texans  called  out,  *'We  surren- 
der !  we  surrender !" 

"By  the  ghost  of  Ginral  Jackson,  it *s  better  for 
you,"  said  the  large  man,  advancing.  "  Drop  them 
guns !  Oif  with  them  pistols  !  All  right,"  he  con- 
tinued as  the  Texans  obeyed. 

Robert  with  his  companions  was  still  under  cover, 
and  thinking  this  might  be  a  dodge,  he  waited.  There 
was  something  in  the  voice  of  the  large  man  that 
sounded  familiar.  He  peered  aroimd  the  tree  cau- 
tiously again,  then  drew  up,  and,  in  a  voice  that  rang 
through  the  woods  like  a  trumpet  call,  he  shouted : 

"Hurrah  for  the  Union  and  General  Jackson  !" 

"Hurrah  for  the  Union  and  Gineral  Jackson!" 
shouted  the  large  man,  as  Robert  leaped  from  behind 
the  tree  to  see  approaching  him  his  old  friend  Ten- 
nessee. 

"  Guard  the  prisoners  !"  shouted  Robert  to  his  com- 
panions, and  the  next  instant  the  powerful  arms  of 
Tennessee  were  around  him. 

"Yer  a  livin*  yet^ain't  a  ghost?  Oh,  Lor',  but 
this  is  grand.  Oh,  I  'm  willin'  ter  go  under  sod  now 
any  minute  !  Yer  sure  yer  alive  ?"  said  Tennessee, 
again  feeling  Robert's  by  no  means  delicate  arms. 

"  Alive  and  well,  thank  God,  Tennessee,  and  you 
are  ever  my  guardian  angel.  But  our  friend  is 
wounded  ;  let  us  help  him,  then  talk." 


A  VICTORY  AND  A  SURPRISE.  297 

They  hurried  over  to  Graines,  who  was  stunned  by  a 
pistol  ball  that  struck  him  above  the  right  eye,  and 
glancing  passed  through  the  fleshy  part  of  his  ear. 

"Look  up,  ole  fel,"  said  Tennessee,  taking  the 
wounded  man's  head  in  his  lap  and  pouring  water  over 
the  scar  from  the  canteen.  "  Yeh  ain't  hurt  danger- 
ous, though  the  cut  won't  improve  yer  beauty." 

Gaines  soon  recovered  and  gazed  up  wonderingly 
into  the  bronzed,  yellow-bearded  face  that  looked  do\vn 
on  him  so  kindly. 

"  Yes,  it 's  me — Tennessee — ole  fel.  The  same  what 
left  yehter  die  on  the  island.    I'lltellyehallbime-by.'* 

As  Tennessee  spoke  Gaines  wse,  and  feeling  his 
wounded  head,  he  stared  again  at  Tennessee,  then  at 
Robert,  his  companions,  the  Texajis,  and  the  three 
new  arrivals. 

"  Robert,  am  I  in  my  right  mind?  Is  this  Tennes- 
see ?   Are  we  safe  ?"  asked  Gaines,  in  laughable  surprise. 

"Yes,  Andy,  we  are  safe,  and  there  stands  our 
friend  Tennessee,"  said  Robert. 

Gaines  was  not  demonstrative,  but  he  threw  his  arms 
about  Tennessee  and  said  : 

"Oh,  my  old  friend,  thank  God;  you  are  well  and 
here  ;  forgive  me  for  ever  having  doubted  you." 

"  We  '11  talk  all  that  arter  awhile.  Now,  let 's  see 
these  here  wounded  chaps." 

Giving  directions  to  Aleck  and  Ned  to  secure  all 
the  horses,  and  to  the  old  man,  who  was  as  cool  as 
the  bravest  during  the  fight,  to  bathe  Gaines's  head 
and  bind  it  up,  Robert  and  Tennessee  started  in  the 
direction  of  the  prostrate  Texans.  Reaching  Bentley, 
Tennessee  stooped,  put  his  ear  to  the  bleeding  man's 
breast,  and  rising,  said  : 


298  WARRE:^  of  TEXAS. 

*'He  's  a  livin',  Mr.  Warren.  I  do  n't  wish  him  ter 
die,  fur  if  it  wuz  n't  fur  him  I  would  n't  be  here.  Here, 
Arkansas — j'or  Ingin  nation — take  this  chap  ter  the 
river  an'  wash  his  wounds ;  we  '11  be  down  thar  di- 
rectly. Long  Sam,  make  them  pris'ners  stan'  in  a 
pile,  an'  shoot  the  fust  one  budges." 

Tennessee  seemed  by  some  right  to  have  assumed 
command.  His  men  promptly  obeyed,  while  he  and 
Warren  examined  the  men  lying  on  the  ground.  The 
unerring  rifles  of  the  scouts  had  done  their  w^ork. 
Three  men  lay  dead  beside  the  still  struggling  horse, 
and  near  the  farther  edge  of  the  woods,  with  a  red 
hole  in  his  forehead,  from  which  the  blood  slowly 
trickled,  they  found  the  man  on  whom  Gaines  had 
fired  the  alarm  shot.  While  they  were  standing  above 
the  body,  an  elderly  man,  very  pale  and  very  much 
excited,  appeared  on  the  ground,  and  in  an  authorita- 
tive tone  asked : 

' '  Gentlemen,  what  is  this  fuss  ?  What  does  all  this 
shooting  mean?" 

"It  means  death,"  said  Tennessee,  pointing  to  the 
dead  Texans. 

"  My  God,  gentlemen,  you  have  not  surely  been  kill- 
ing  your  friends,  the  southern  soldiers  ?" 

"No,  sir,"  said  Kobert,  looking  the  old  planter  in 
the  eye.  "We  have  been  fighting  our  enemies.  We 
are  northern  soldiers." 

"Yes,"  added  Tennessee,  as  he  noticed  the  old 
man's  alarmed  face  ;  "  we  fights  fur  the  Union.  Come 
with  me  a  moment." 

The  planter  obeyed  mechanically  till  he  reached 
the  group  of  prisoners.  "Thar,  stan*  thar.  Long 
Sam,  do  n't  let  this  man  move." 


LONG  SAM'S  WARNING.  299 

"  Yell  kin  bet  yer  bottom  rock  I  '11  make  movin' 
bad  work  if  this  ole  brick  tries  it  on,"  said  Long  Sam, 
stepping  back  a  pace,  the  better  to  cover  his  prisoners. 

Robert  called  Aleck  Cameron  and  placed  him  on 
guard  with  Long  Sam.  Then  he  and  Tennessee  went 
to  the  river.  Gaines  was  walking  about  with  his  head 
bandaged  in  a  yellow  handkerchief,  like  a  faded  hos- 
pital flag,  and  Bentley  began  to  show  evidences  of  an- 
imation. Robert  gave  him  some  brandy  from  a  pocket 
flask  he  carried,  which  had  the  effect  of  reviving  him, 
for  he  groaned,  opened  his  eyes,  looking  around  upon 
the  people  who  stood  near  him,  then  closed  them  again. 

It  was  now  nearly  dark,  and  after  a  short  consulta- 
tion it  was  decided  to  cross  the  river  with  the  prison- 
ers that  night,  and  mature  a  plan  of  action  after  get- 
ting over.  One  of  the  best  horses  of  those  captured 
was  selected  for  little  Ned — Gaines,  w^ho  had  seen 
the  boy's  heroic  action,  declaring  that  after  the  war 
he  would  make  him  a  present  of  a  whole  corral  of 
mustangs,  and  four  more  reserved  for  Tennessee  and 
his  friends.  The  arms,  saddles,  and  bridles  of  the 
Texans  not  needed  were  then  placed  in  the  boat,  the 
chain  of  which  had  been  broken,  and  Aleck  Cameron 
and  Arkansas  scattered  them  about  in  the^creek.  At 
this  juncture  the  faithful  Sampson  appeared,  and  Rob- 
ert took  him  aside  and  hmTiedly  explained  the  state 
of  affairs.  lie  told  him  he  would  need  the  boat  that 
night,  and  might  have  to  sink  it,  and,  in  anticipation 
of  this,  he  paid  Sampson.  He  also  directed  him  to 
have  the  negroes  on  the  plantation  near  by  bury  the 
dead  in  the  morning.  This  Sampson  promised,  and 
invoking  blessings  on  Robert's  head  the  old  man  re- 
turned. 


SOO  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

All  the  saddles  were  ferried  over,  and  then  the 
horses  taken  one  at  a  time.  The  prisoners  were  crossed 
two  at  a  time,  with  two  of  the  scouts,  one  rowing,  the 
other  guarding.  The  old  planter  raved  and  expostu- 
lated till  Long  Sam  intimated  that  they  invariably 
scalped  men  for  carrying  on  in  that  ridiculous  way 
where  he  came  from,  and  that  in  order  to  keep  in  his 
hand  he  would  raise  the  old  gentleman's  hair  on  the 
slightest  provocation.  This  had  a  soothing  effect  on 
the  planter. 

Back  some  distance  from  the  wooded  bank  of  the 
river  to  which  they  had  crossed,  they  built  a  fire,  and 
placed  near  it  on  their  saddle  blankets  the  wounded 
Bentley.  The  blow  on  his  head  was  severe,  but  not 
dangerous;  there  was,  however,  a  pistol-ball  in  his 
right  breast,  close  to  the  heart,  and  Tennessee  shook 
his  head  when  he  saw  it,  while  Robert,  who  understood 
the  anatomy  about  the  wound,  felt  that  but  a  few 
hours  remained  for  the  brave,  misguided  Texan. 
Robert's  force  now  consisting  of  nine  men,  he  divided 
it  into  four  reliefs  for  guard  duty,  Ned  and  his  grand- 
father going  on  first. 

As  they  sat  by  the  fire  on  the  opposite  side  to  the 
prisoners,  Robert  and  Gaines  begged  Tennessee  to 
tell  them  his  story,  and  how  he  came  to  be  on  hand 
so  opportunely  that  day.  But  he  insisted  first  on 
hearing  their's^  and  so  Robert  described  the  storm, 
and  the  flood,  and  subsequent  escape.  Tennessee  sat 
with  his  hands  to  his  face,  saying  at  times,  "It  seems 
like  a  dream,  or  a  yarn,  or  something."  Robert  nar- 
rated every  incident  till  their  meeting  that  evening, 
after  v/hich   Tennessee   insisted   on   shaking  hands 


TENNESSEE'S  NARRATIVE.  SOl 

By  this  time  little  Ned  and  the  old  man  were  re- 
lieved, and  Eobert  introduced  them  regularly  to  Ten- 
nessee, and  asked  them  to  come  and  hear  his  story. 
Long  Sam  and  Indian  Nation  stood  guard,  and  Tennes- 
see, taking  a  huge  chew  of  tobacco  as  a  suitable  prelimi- 
nary to  his  narrative,  related  in  detail  the  incidents 
already  known  to  the  reader  up  to  the  evening  of  his 
escape.  While  Tennessee  spoke  old  Dawn's  eyes  were 
fastened  on  him  with  an  intense  and  wholly  unusual 
expression.  With  the  utmost  earnestness  he  heard 
him  tell  of  his  successful  escape  from  prison,  though 
a  companion  was  killed  in  the  attempt ;  of  his  journey 
into  the  Cherokee  country  and  remaining  there  till  he 
had  to  fight  on  one  side  or  the  other ;  how  he  left,  and 
with  Indian  Nation,  who  was  a  Union  man — he  did  n't 
know  his  regular  name — went  to  Arkansas,  and  had  to 
join  the  rebel  army ;  how  he  met  Long  Sam  and 
Arkansas  in  Price's  army,  and  how  they  all  deserted 
to  Tennessee,  where  they  hoped  to  find  the  Union 
army ;  how  at  Memphis  he  enlisted  with  his  com- 
panions in  a  regiment  which  was  in  East  Tennessee, 
and  how  the  rebels  gave  him  transportation  there. 
Finally  how  he  stopped  at  Bolivar,  though  out  of  bis 
way,  under  the  pretense  of  seeing  a  brother,  who 
did  n't  live  there,  and  how  he  recognized  Bentley  in 
the  street  as  a  man  who  sent  Rose  after  Eobert  War- 
ren. "  I  longed  to  go  fur  that  feller,  though  he's  help- 
less now,"  concluded  Tennessee.  "I  saw  him  awful 
worried  in  town,  an'  arter  a  while  a  vv^hole  gang,  more 
than  twenty,  started  out  of  town  on  the  Shiloh  road. 
I  knowed  thar  wuz  no  Yankees  out  thar,  but  some 
trubble,  an'  I  could  n't  git  over  follerin  'em.  We  all 
four  started,  an'  of  course  the  critters  left  us  away 
26 


302  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

behind.  We  dodged  the  pickets  an'  got  on  the  trail 
One  by  one  the  critters  gin  out,  but  we've  all  chased 
Ingins,  an'  yeh  couldn't  git  us  off  the  trail  more  'n  a 
bloodhound.  W^e  com'd  up  with  them  fellers  this 
moniin'.  They  just  tried  the  Shiloh  road  ten  miles. 
They  ain't  much  on  a  trail.  W^e  waited  at  the  cross- 
roads, knowin'  they  'd  come  back,  an'  when  they  did 
we  wuz  arter  'em.  I  know'd  more  an'  more  thar  wuz 
some  one  I'd  orter  help  if  I  foUered  them  men.  Fine 
critters  they  have,  tho'  played  I  reckon.  Wall,  yeh 
know,  I  cum'd  up  durin'  the  fight,  an'  when  I  heerd 
yeh,  I  forgot  the  journey  an'  the  hunger.  An'  now.  Cap., 
we  're  heah  safe  an'  sound." 

"Yes,  Tennessee,  and  hungry,"  said  Robert,  open- 
ing his  saddle-bags  and  handing  out  the  plentiful 
supply  of  provisions  which  the  generous  and  thought- 
ful Sampson  had  stuffed  into  the  saddle-bags  at  the  last 
moment. 


CHAPTEE  XXVIII 


FATHER  AND   SON. 

During  Tennessee's  narrative  old  Dawn  graduall} 
drew  nearer  to  the  speaker,  and  his  face  assumed  by 
degrees  an  intense  earnestness  and  interest  that  even 
the  thrilling  story  would  not  warrant.  In  truth,  he 
did  not  hear  the  story,  though  the  strong,  deep  voice 
thrilled  the  old  man  like  the  airs  of  his  youth  just 
called  to  mind,  and  with  wondering  eyes  he  gazed 
from  the  fire  to  the  powerful,  flexible  form  of  the  hun- 
ter, as  if  trying  to  reconcile  some  changes,  or  solve 
some  mystery  that  troubled  his  own  mind. 

Tennessee  stopped  speaking,  and  after  going  to 
where  Bentley  lay,  and  making  some  changes  in  his 
position  to  ease  his  pain,  he  walked  back,  and,  pulling 
out  his  tobacco-pouch  as  he  sat  down,  he  said  to  the 
old  man : 

"  Smoke  with  me,  frien*  ?  It 's  no  pleasure  to  smoke 
alone  by  a  camp-fire." 

"  Sartia,  stranger,  sartin,"  said  the  old  man,  looking 
earnestly  into  the  good-natured  blue  eyes  of  Tennes- 
see, and  mechanically  reaching  out  his  hand  for  the 
tobacco. 

"  Stranger,"  again  the  old  man  spoke,  after  light- 
ing his  pipe,  "yeh've  lived  in  Texas  right  smart,  I 
reckon  ?" 


804  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

*' Yes,  ole  man  ;  I  've  been  thar  purty  much  since 
I  wuz  a  boy,  an'  I  knows  'bout  as  much  of  that  ar' 
country  as  mos'  men." 

**  Yeh  knows  lots  of  folks  thar,  I  'm  sure?"  and  as 
the  old  man  spoke  he  edged  closer  to  where  Tennes- 
see sat. 

"  No,  frien',  I  am't  much  at  gittin'  'quainted  ;  but 
I  knows  a  few,  I  reckon,"  said  Tennessee,  blowing  out 
a  cloud  of  smoke  and  good-naturedly  preparing  him- 
self to  answer  the  old  man's  questions  as  long  as  he 
wished  to  ask  them. 

The  old  man  sat  looking  at  the  fire  for  some  time. 
His  pipe  had  gone  out  and  was  held  between  his 
clasped  hands.  After  a  few  minutes,  without  looking 
up,  he  began,  as  if  speaking  to  himself: 

"  Stranger,  I  had  a  boy  once — my  eldest — and  a 
long  time  ago  he  went  to  Texas.  It  hurt  me  a  heap 
to  have  him  leave  me,  for  he  wuz  right  smart  help, 
an'  they  did  n't  git  up  boys  with  any  kinder  or  braver 
hearts  than  mine.  But  I  let  him  go,  fur  I  had  others 
a  comin'  on,  an'  I  know'd  my  boy  'd  come  back  if  he 
ever  larned  I  wuz  pushed.  Wall,  the  war  come,  an' 
the  rebels  killed  all  but  little  Ned  ;  he  's  Ned's  boy. 
It 's  right  hard  fur  an  old  man,  but  of  late  I  keep 
thinkin'  that  Sim '11  turn  up.  It'd  take  off  all  the 
load  if  I  could  see  Jim  agin." 

The  old  man  looked  up.  Tennessee  was  standing 
beside  him.  He  met  the  old  man's  gaze,  and  his  heart 
leaped  to  his  mouth,  A  haze  came  over  his  eyes  as 
with  outstretched  arms  he  knelt  beside  his  father,  and 
clasping  him  to  his  broad  breast  he  said,  in  a  low, 
tremulous  voice : 

**  Look  at  me,  dad ;  I  'm  Jim.     I  'm  yer  boy." 


AN  IMPKESSIVE  REUNION.  806 

The  old  man  pushed  back  the  heavy  masses  of  sun- 
burned, fair  hair  from  Tennessee's  white  forehead  and 
Baid: 

"  Thank  God  for  this,  Jim.  Thank  God  thar  's  one 
left  besides  little  Ned.  My  heart  felt  warm  fur  yeh 
from  the  first,  an'  I  hoped  yeh  wuz  my  boy." 

The  father  and  son  sat  down  together,  and  the  wit- 
nesses of  their  meeting  felt  the  joy  they  could  not 
then  speak.  Tennessee  pulled  little  Ned  over  on  his 
knee,  and  looking  into  his  bright,  youthful  face,  said  : 

"  So,  you  're  Ned's  boy.  Wall,  now,  who  'd  'a  thought 
it?    My  face  was  as  smooth  as  yours  whin  I  left  Ten- 
nessee, an'  I  reckon  I  looked  right  smart  as  you  do. 
I  wuz  n't  bad  lookin'  then  by  a  long  chalk— was  I 
dadr 

**  No,  Jim,  you  wuz  allers  likely,"  said  the  old  man, 
looking  with  pride  at  the  bearded  face  of  his  giant 
boy. 

"Mr.  Warren,  the  Dawns  is  purty  heavy  for  Ginral 
Jackson,  do  n't  yeh  think?" 

"I  certainly  do,  Tennessee,"  replied  Robert,  who 
went  on  to  relate  how  he  met  his  father  and  little  Ned 
that  dark  night  near  Crab  Orchard,  and  how  the  boy 
was  wounded. 

"  Wall,  it 's  all  right  now.    But  this  war  has  brought 
some  things  roun'  cur'us.    'Pears  like  a  dream  since  I 
follered  yeh  out  the  Shreveport  road  with  that  houn' 
Eose." 

As  Tennessee  spoke,  Gaines  ordered  the  next  de- 
tail for  guard,  and  the  old  man  insisted  on  going  on 
again  with  Tennessee,  offering  as  an  excuse  that  he 
would  *'feel  kinder  lonesome  ef  he  wuz  n't  near  Jim." 

The  night  wore  on,  and  Bentley  sank  into  a  quiet 
26* 


806  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

sleep.  About  four  o'clock  he  roused  himself,  and 
looking  up  at  Robert,  who  was  sitting  beside  him,  ho 
asked : 

"Have  I  been  dreaming,  Bob?  Have  I  said  any- 
thing?" 

"No;  I  have  been  sitting  here,  and  you  slept 
quietly." 

**  Bob,  I  've  led  a  pretty  wild  life.  It's  nearly 
ended  though,"  and  Bentley  laid  his  hand  on  the 
wound,  from  which  the  blood  still  slowly  oozed 
through  the  bandages. 

"  I  have  no  reason  to  love  you,  Bentley ;  but  I 
believe  you  brave  and  honest,  and  I  hope  you  will 
live  to  return  to  your  people,  and,  after  the  war,  to 
Texas." 

Robert  stooped  and  wiped  the  wounded  man's 
damp  forehead  and  gave  him  another  sip  of  brandy. 

*'  Bob,  I  can 't  live,  and  before  I  die  I  want  to  tell 
you  all.  I  want  to  tell  you  that  I  objected  to  keep- 
ing your  father  in  prison,  and  it  hurt  me  worse  than 
this  wound  when  he  died." 

"My  Grod!  my  father  dead!  Bid  you  say  my 
father  was  dead?"  said  Robert,  in  a  voice  of  agony 
and  passion,  as  he  laid  his  hand  on  the  wounded  man 
and  shook  him  for  a  reply. 

Bentley  did  not  reply.  He  made  an  effort  as  if  to 
speak,  then  his  face  grew  deathly  pale,  and  a  itin, 
bloody  foam  gathered  about  his  lips.     He  had  fainted. 

Robert  was  half  prepared  for  this  terrible  informa- 
tion, still  it  cut  him  to  the  heart.  Tennessee  hastened 
to  his  side,  and  placing  his  ear  to  Bentley's  heart,  he 
said  hurriedly,  "  Give  him  more  brandy,  Mr.  Warren, 
I*m  afeard  he  's  dyin' !" 


ROBERT'S  LOSS.  «07 

Kobert  raised  Bentley's  head,  stooping  so  as  t^ 
take  it  in  his  lap,  and  poured  the  brandy  slowly  be- 
tween his  cold,  bloody  lips. 

Tennessee  in  the  meantime  tightened  the  bandages 
and  stopped  the  blood. 

"  Yeh  mus  n't  rile  this  chap,  Mr,  Warren ;  he  's 
purty  near  gone.  Ef  he  was  n't  as  strong  as  a  boss 
he  'd  a  died  when  he  was  fust  hit.  Thar,  he  's  comin* 
to.     Let  him  rest  a  bit." 

Robert  adjusted  the  blankets  and  walked  away.  It 
was  very  dark,  and  the  prisoners  near  the  fire  slept 
like  children,  little  Ned  lying  with  his  arm  thrown 
over  one  stalwart  fellow's  breast. 

"  Oh,  God  !  this  agony  ;  this  war  is  horrible  !"  said 
Robert,  as  he  buttoned  closer  his  coat  and  walked 
into  the  darkness,  where  the  dying  fire  at  times  lit  up 
the  great,  leafless  trees  and  threw  out  shadows  that 
w^ere  lost  in  the  blackness  beyond.  As  he  stood 
musing  Gaines  came  up  and  said : 

"  Robert,  I  am  sorry  to  hear  of  your  trouble.'* 

"  I  know  you  are,  Andy,  I  Imow  you  are,"  and 
Robert  laid  his  hand  kindly  on  the  shoulder  of  his 
friend. 

"  This  is  no  place  nor  time,  Robert,  to  give  way  to 
grief.  Sometimes  I  have  been  so  dejected  that  T 
envied  those  who  slept  in  the  grave  without  heart- 
aches. But  God  has  given  us  vrork  to  do.  Let  us 
bear  manfully  every  trial  He  casts  upon  us." 

"  You  are  right,  Andy ;  but  I  could  not  help  this 
sadness.  You  know  how  intensely  I  loved  my  father, 
and  how,  dming  our  arduous  duties,  I  have  looked 
forward  to  the  time  when  I  could  tell  him  all,  as  we 
sat  together  in  the  old  home,  and  war  with  us  was  a 


308  V7AKKEN  OF  TEXAS. 

thing  of  tlie  past.  But  I  will  bear  it.  Come,  let  us 
see  poor  Bentley ;  I  fear  he  cannot  live  long." 

They  walked  back  to  where  Bentley  lay,  and  sat 
down  beside  hira.  He  tui'ned  at  the  noise  and  whis- 
pered, as  he  tried  to  hold  out  his  hand : 

"Bob,  do  you  hate  me?" 

**  No,  God  knows  I  do  not.  I  would  suffer  much 
to  give  you  life,"  said  Robert  earnestly,  as  he  took 
the  cold  and  once  powerful  hand  In  his. 

"  Bob — and  you,  Andy — I  want  you  to  forgive  me. 
I  judged  you  wrong.  I  know  now,  what  I  thought 
then,  Townsend  lied." 

Bentley  stopped,  for  the  talking  pained  him. 

"  I  forgive  you,  from  my  soul,  for  whatever  you 
have  done  to  me,"  said  Gaines,  in  a  choking  voice. 

"  And  I  too,  Bentley,"  said  Robert.  "  I  never 
could  think  you  guilty  of  an  intentional  meanness. 
You  were  always  too  brave  and  honest." 

"  Yes,"  inten'upted  Bentley,  with  failingbreath,*' God 
knows  I  am  honest.  Bob,  and  always  meant  to  do  right." 

"  You  knew  me,  Bentley,  and  you  knew  Townsend. 
I  am  sure  it  was  only  the  excitement  of  the  election 
that  induced  you  to  think  that  I  could  be  a  murderer 
or  a  robber." 

*'  Yes,  Bob,  but  the  excitement 's  past.  I  am  going 
dovrn.  I  can  hear  the  water.  The  river  is  close  at 
hand,  and  I  'm  moving  out," 

Bentley  closed  his  eyes  and  lay  still  for  a  few  mo- 
ments.    Then  he  roused  himself  as  with  an  effort. 

"  Bob,  call  my  men — all  that  are  left." 

Robert  woke  up  the  prisoners  and  brought  them 
over  to  where  Bentley  lay.  He  motioned  them  to 
Etoop,  then  shook  hands  with  each. 


DEATH  OF  BENTLEY.  309 

"  Boys,  you  've  always  done  your  duty.  I  hope 
you  '11  get  back  to  do  it  again.  I  've  fought  with  you 
for  the  last  time,  but  God  will  give  victory  to  the 
right.  You  are  prisoners.  If  Bob  Warren  lets  you 
go,  do  what  he  may  ask ;  it  will  be  for  your  good  and 
his.     Take  my  last  love  to  all." 

Those  bronzed  Texans  were  unused  to  emotion. 
They  looked  too  strong  and  coarse  to  be  capable  of 
much  feeling,  but  as  Bentley  ceased  speaking  their 
eyes  were  moist  with  the  tears  they  could  not  choke 
down,  and  each  clasped  the  cold  hand  of  the  com- 
mander th^y  loved,  promising  to  obey  his  last  order. 

"  Is  the  sun  up  ?    It  feels  warmer." 

"  No,  Bentley,  but  the  day  is  breaking,"  said  Robert. 

"  Yes,  I  see  the  light,  the  light,  and  my  mother, 
my  mother,  my  mother " 

His  voice  gradually  sank,  and  at  the  last  word, 
**  mother,"  his  clasp  of  Robert's  hand  relaxed,  the 
dying  fire  in  his  eyes  went  out,  his  head  fell  back, 
and  Bentley,  the  brare  and  misguided,  was  dead. 

The  sun  came  up  bright  and  warm.  The  early 
spring  birds  flew  through  the  budding  trees,  and  at 
times  a  bee  buzzed  by  in  search  of  the  first  sweet 
flowers.  A  large  live  oak,  with  branches  drooping  to 
the  ground,  grew  near  the  camp,  beside  the  river. 
Here  they  scooped  a  grave  with  their  knives  deep 
between  the  gnarled  roots,  and,  ^Tapping  the  young 
Texan  in  his  blanket,  they  lowered  him  down  and 
placed  his  sword  and  pislols  on  his  breast.  Then  they 
threw  back  the"  earth,  while  Robert  carved  in  the 
bark,  "  Bentley,  bravest  of  the  Rangers,  killed  March, 
1862." 

"  Saddle  up  your  horses,   men,  we  must  start  at 


310  -W^ARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

once,"  said' Robert,  walking  in  the  direction  of  the 
prisoners.  ' '  I  will  find  it  difHcult  to  take  you  through 
to  the  Union  lines  with  me,  and  still  more  difficult  to 
let  you  go,'*  said  Robert,  addressing  the  R.angers. 
"  You  promised  Bentley  just  before  he  died  that  you 
would  do  as  I  desired  for  your  own  good.  Do  you 
still  stand  by  that  promise  ?' ' 

The  Texans  signified  their  willingness  to  do  what- 
ever Robert  desired  consistent  with  their  duty  as 
Confederates. 

"  I  am  satisfied  with  your  promise.  I  will  parole 
you  at  once,  on  condition  that  you  do  not  report  to 
the  Confederate  army  inside  of  twenty-four  hours. 
This  I  must  demand  in  order  to  prevent  pursuit. 
"What  say  you?" 

The  Texans  agreed  to  this,  and  Robert  prepared 
and  took  each  man's  parole. 

"  I  wish  you  to  take  this  note  to  Colonel  Wharton 
for  me ;  it  will  explain  all  about  your  capture  and 
Bentley's  death.  I  have  given  you  the  credit  which 
as  brave  men  you  deserve.  Now,  good-bye,  and  I 
hope  when  again  we  meet  it  may  be  as  friends." 

The  prisoners  shook  hands  all  round  with  their 
captors,  and  as  the  scouts  rode  eastward  through  the 
woods  the  Rangers  took  an  opposite  course  up  White 
Oak  Creek. 


CHAPTEE  XXIX. 


SHILOH. 

Tlie  evening  following  that  on  which  Robert  War- 
ren and  his  men  left  White  Oak  Creek  they  learned 
that  the  Union  Army  under  Grant  had  moved  up  on 
transports  to  Pittsburg  Landing,  on  the  Tennessee. 
General  Buell  was  still  behind,  in  the  direction  of 
Danville,  with  a  large  force.  Deeming  the  informa- 
tion he  possessed  to  be  of  immediate  advantage  to 
General  Grant,  who  was  only  twenty  miles  from  Cor- 
inth, where  Beauregard  was  gathering  the  flower  of 
the  Mississippi  valley  to  cnish  out  the  Northern  amiy 
in  Tennessee,  Robert  determined  to  push  on  in  that 
direction  at  once.  On  the  following  day  he  reported 
in  person,  and  received  the  praise  of  "  the  silent  sol- 
dier "  for  his  invaluable  service.  His  regiment  v/as 
back  with  Nelson,  and  General  Grant,  who  seemed  to 
be  thoroughly  posted  about  the  neighboring  country, 
ordered  him  with  his  companions  to  report  to  General 
W.  H.  L.  Wallace  till  General  Nelson,  who  was  daily 
expected,  came  up. 

Robert  had  Tennessee  and  his  friends  mustered  into 
the  service  and  assigned  to  Captain  Allen  Warren's 
company.  For  nearly  a  week  they  lay  quietly  in  en- 
campment between  Shiloh  Church  and  Snake  Creek, 
two  miles  south  of  the  three  houses  dignified  by  the 
name    of   "Pittsburg   Landing."     The   country  was 


812  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

wiul,  iindalatiag,  and  wooded;  the  scattering  farm- 
houses were  of  the  rude  kind  peculiar  to  first  settle- 
ments. With  the  exception  of  an  occasional  thunder- 
storm, the  weather  was  delightful,  and  the  swelling 
buds  and  fresh  green  carpet  of  grass,  with  wild-flower 
patterns  and  myriads  of  vocal  birds,  made  a  picture 
of  beauty  and  peace  with  which  the  circling  line  of 
camps  and  martial  dwellers  seemed  out  of  harmony. 
Surely  General  Grant  did  not  appreciate  the  strength, 
daring,  and  cunning  of  the  Confederates  at  Corinth, 
or,  if  he  did,  he  had  a  more  than  soldier's  confidence 
in  the  conquerors  of  Donelson,  his  mighty  Western 
men.  No  fortifications,  breastworks,  or  abbattis  were 
thrown  up  in  a  section  peculiarly  adapted  to  them, 
and  where  half  the  country  was  densely  timbered. 
No  cavalry  force  far  in  the  advance  to  apprise  him  of 
danger  from  the  direction  of  Corinth.  But  in  a  solid 
semi-circle,  somewhat  advanced  by  Prentiss  on  the 
left  center,  near  the  Corinth  road.  General  Grant  held 
his  army,  with  a  deep,  unfordable  river  flowing  directly 
in  his  rear.  Defeat  in  such  a  place  would  bring  on 
him  the  censure  of  the  world  and  the  execration  of 
his  countrymen.  But  the  iron  will  and  cool  hand  of 
the  general  were  equal  to  any  emergency,  and  at 
Shiloh  it  seemed  as  if  he  increased  the  danger,  just 
once  in  his  life,  to  show  what  he  could  do  when  all 
seemed  lost. 

The  evening  of  April  5th  came  bright  and  pleasanter 
for  the  recent  rains.  Around  from  Lick  Creek  to 
Pittsburg  Landing  the  white  tents  of  Hurlburt,  Prentiss, 
Sherman,  McClerland,  and  Smith  caught  the  red  rays 
of  the  setting  sun,  and  looked  like  opal  jewels  in  the 
vast  setting  of  dark  green.     From  a  point  eight  miles 


BEFORE  THE  BATTLE.  315 

fui'ther  down  the  river  the  blue  smoke  curled  up 
peacefully  from  the  camp-fires  of  Lew  Wallace,  and 
before  the  landing  two  gunboats  swung  lazily  at  an- 
chor. Parade  and  inspection  were  over  and  the  de- 
tails made.  Around  a  thousand  camp-fires  the  soldiers 
were  busy  with  the  evening  meal,  and  jest  and  laugh- 
ter rang  jovial  volleys  through  the  woods.  Here  and 
there  on  the  low  bushes  the  lately-washed  clothes 
were  left  to  dry.  The  horses  champed  their  grain 
near  the  wagons,  the  batteries,  and  headquarters  as 
contentedly  as  if  just  in  from  the  carriage  or  the  plow. 
Groups  of  officers  in  undress  gathered  to  smoke  and 
chat,  while  from  along  the  line  for  miles  the  music 
of  the  regimental  bands  came  in  swelling  notes  to  the 
river.  The  flags  before  the  different  headquarters 
were  taken  down,  the  sunlight  blended  into  gray,  the 
gray  into  darkness,  with  the  brightest  of  stars,  and  the 
camp-fires  shone  warmly  on  beaming,  sunburned  faces, 
and  lit  up  the  green  trees  with  a  marvelous  beauty. 
Songs  associated  with  home  came  from  knots  about 
the  bivouacs,  while  here  and  there  the  company  wit 
kept  his  comrades  in  a  roar  by  his  amusing  narration 
of  his  own  adventures.  Nine  o'clock  came,  and  from 
right  to  left  the  brazen  throats  of  the  bugle  sounded 
*'  Taps."  Quickly  the  fires  became  deserted,  the 
laughter  and  song  and  story  died  out,  and  the  white 
tents  were  filled  with  forty  thousand  sleeping  men, 
silent  as  a  city  of  the  dead.  So  passed  the  quiet 
hours,  the  soft,  mossy  earth  refusing  sound  to  the  feet 
of  the  watchful  sentinel — quiet  as  the  grave  in  which* 
when  another  night  comes,  hundreds  of  the  resting 
soldiers  will  be  gathered  for  the  last  long  sleep.  At 
times  the  reliefs  pass  rapidly  from  post  to  post,  the 
27 


314  "WAEREN  OF  TEXAS. 

challenge  ringing  out  like  an  intruder  on  the  stillness ; 
this  and  the  gallop  of  the  grand  rounds,  with  jingling 
spurs  and  clashing  sabers  and  startling  demands  froni 
the  cover  of  somber  trees  of  "  Halt !  who  goes  there  ?  '* 
then  all  is  calm  and  quiet,  as  if  war  never  were. 

Four  o'clock  came,  and  the  stars  grew  less  distinct 
in  the  blending  of  gray  that  told  the  dawn  of  April  6 
had  come.  Along  the  extended  line  the  sound  of  the 
reveille  ran  through  the  Union  camp,  and  forty  thou- 
sand men  rose  from  their  blankets  at  the  call.  But 
blending  with  the  bugle  call  came  the  wild  cries  of 
flying  men,  the  exultant  yells  of  a  pursuing  foe,  the 
boom  of  artillery,  and  the  rattle  and  roar  of  musketry. 
A  hundred  drums  drowned  for  the  time  the  sound  of 
battle  as  in  one  horrid  din  they  rattled  through  the 
camps,  one  hour  ago  so  peaceful,  that  summons  to 
battle,  the  "  long  roll."  Half-dressed  men  seized 
their  arms  and  frantically  rushed  'nto  line.  From  the 
left  frightened  men  came  pouring  back,  adding  to  the 
confusion,  and  by  their  wild  cries  demoralizing  the 
half- formed  regiments.  "  Prentiss  is  cut  to  pieces !" 
*'Back  to  the  river!"  "My  God,  we  are  ruined!" 
These  and  a  hundred  other  evidences  of  defeat  greeted 
Hurlbm-t  and  Hildebrand.  Nor  was  this  all.  On  the 
ver^  heels  of  the  flying  Union  soldiers  long  gray  lines, 
in  magnificent  order  of  battle,  poured  through  the 
woods,  and  with  a  force  irresistible  as  the  ocean's 
waves  they  struck  the  first  division  and  dashed  it  into 
bleeding  fragments.  In  vain  did  Sherman  try  to 
gather  his  command  ;  the  tide  of  battle  struck  him, 
and  hundreds  of  Jiis  half-dressed  men  perished  in  their 
tents  or  grasping  the  arms  they  had  not  time  to  use. 
General  W.  H.   L.  Wallace,  with  whom   were   our 


THE  DISASTROUS  FIRST  DAY.  315 

friends,  rallied,  but  not  in  time  to  stem  the  torrent. 
By  ten  o'  clock  the  rebels  held  the  Union  camp,  Pren- 
tiss's division  was  literally  smashed  to  pieces,  and 
eight  thousand  cowed,  demoralized  men,  in  the  very 
agony  of  fear,  sought  the  protection  of  the  river's 
bank,  and  added  to  the  terror  and  confusion  by  their 
cries  of  distress.  Sherman,  with  a  daring  that  would 
be  called  reckless,  were  it  not  for  the  coolness  and 
skill  of  his  action,  dashed  along  his  broken  brigades 
and  re-formed  them.  Taylor,  Waterhouse,  and  Beer 
he  placed  in  position  with  their  batteries  on  McCler- 
nand's  left,  and  here  for  the  time  was  the  most  des- 
perate fighting  and  terrific  carnage.  Tliough  shot 
through  the  hand,  and  the  blood  dripping  from  his 
long  fingers,  he  worked  like  a  Trojan  to  remedy  the 
evils  of  his  unfortified  position.  Around  the  left  and 
center  the  battle  surged,  the  enemy  neglecting  the 
right,  which  Lew  Wallace,  eight  miles  off,  was  har- 
rying up  to  protect.  Their  plan  seemed  to  be  to 
double  the  line  from  the  left  back  upon  itself  and 
sweep  it  clear  to  the  river,  beyond  which  resistance 
would  be  useless.  Hurlburt  and  W.  H.  L.  Wallace, 
though  shattered  from  the  first  stmming  blow,  had 
with  them  the  flower  of  Kentucky,  Ohio,  Illinois,  In- 
diana, and  Iowa.  Below  a  number  of  open  fields, 
v/ithin  sight  of  their  camps,  now  held  by  the  enemy, 
they  re-formed.  Here  Beam^egard  commanded  in 
person,  and  three  times  he  hurled  division  after  divi- 
sion upon  the  thin  blue  lines  in  front.  But  there 
Hurlburt  and  Wallace  held  their  ground,  strewing  the 
smoking  earth  with  dead  each  time  the  enemy  charged. 
For  fi.ve  hours  and  a  half  the  left  was  thus  held,  till  at 
length,  under  a  murderous  fire  of  artillery,  this  noble 


S16  TTARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

division  fell  back  within  sight  of  the  river,  where  the 
wooden  gunboats  Tyler  and  Lexington  were  firing  shells 
over  the  Union  line  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy. 
They  fell  back,  bearing  with  them  the  dying  General 
Wallace,  whose  men  were  the  last  to  yield  before  the 
overpowering  force  of  the  enemy. 

By  five  in  the  afternoon  Grant's  whole  army  was 
crowded  around  the  Landing,  and  a  circle  of  three 
quarters  of  a  mile  would  inclose  all  his  troops.  Lew 
Wallace,  who  ought  to  have  been  up,  lost  time  by  a 
mistake,  and  was  still  far  to  the  right,  beyond  Snake 
Creek.  Still  from  the  outer  line  of  the  circle,  where 
companies,  regiments,  brigades,  and  divisions  were 
blended  without  distinction,  the  fires  of  death  blazed, 
and  men  fell  by  hundreds  where  so  few  could  be  spared. 
By  half-past  five  there  were  not  fifteen  thousand  men 
in  the  Union  lines.  Out  of  the  grand  army  of  the  pre- 
vious night  five  thousand  were  prisoners,  eight  thou- 
sand dead  or  wounded  in  the  woods  and  camps  which 
the  enemy  held,  and  as  many  were  demoralized  and 
unorganized  along  the  river's  bank.  The  enemy  had 
captured  a  dozen  battle-flags  and  thirty  pieces  of  ar- 
tillery, which  our  army  could  not  afford  to  lose  in  any 
circiunstances.  At  this  time  the  firing  slackened,  and  a 
tall  horseman  within  full  sight  of  the  Union  lines  rode 
along  the  enemy's  front,  forming  his  columns  for  one 
grand,  fuial  charge,  which  was  to  sweep  out  the  Yankee 
army  south  of  the  Tennessee.  Wherever  he  went 
he  was  cheered  vociferously,  and  an  old  soldier  who 
stood,  musket  in  hand,  near  Robert  Warren,  said : 
"  That's  the  damned  traitor  Albert  Sidney  Johnston." 
In  the  mean  time  Grant,  with  his  staff,  occupied  the 
Union  center,  near  the  Landing.     He  was  cvidentW 


THE  ENEMY  REPULSED.  317 

as  cool  as  if  there  bad  been  no  battle.     Webster  was 
there  preparing  his  artillery  for  the  struggle,  and  the 
firm,  compressed  lips  of  the  men  along  the  line  showed 
the  determination  with  which  the  foe  would  be  met. 
Only  a  few  minutes  of  painful  anxiety,  during  which 
the  men  gazed  at  the  forming  foe,  then  back  at  the 
black  river,  praying,  as  Wellmgton  is  said  to  have 
prayed  at  Waterloo,  that  the  sun  would  go  down  or 
re-enforcements  come  up.     Lew  Wallace  and  Euell 
were  needed  now  if  ever.      Yet  there  was  no  help 
from   them,  and   the  men  grasped  more  Jirmly  their 
weapons  and  looked  up  for  aid.     The  rebel  lines  closed 
up,  then  suddenly  from  forty  pieces  of  artillery  they 
poured  in  a  murderous  fire  on  the  devoted  band  of 
Union  heroes,  and  a  storm  of  musket-balls  came  driv^ 
ing  like  hail  from  the  line  of  twenty  thousand  men. 
J'here  was  but  the  show  of  a  reply  to  this  deluge  of 
shot  and  shell.     Then  came  on  in  splendid  array,  with 
hats   slouched   and  pieces   trailed,  the   divisions  of 
Hardee  and  Polk,  with  Breckinridge's  brigade.     It 
was  the  last  chance  for  Grant.     His  infantry  fire  was 
reserved  till  a  pistol  ball  would  kill  a  man  in  the  fore- 
most line  of  the  enemy.     Then  began  the  very  har- 
vest of  death.     Infantry,    batteries,    and   gunboats, 
with  the  rapidity  of  lightning  and  accuracy  of  fate, 
hurled  out  a  storm  of  missiles  before  which  the  first 
rank   melted  and  those   behind  faltered   and  were 
broken.     Each  man  in  the  Union  line  felt  the  fate  of 
the  Army  depended  on  him,  and  as  the  sun  went  down 
behind  the  black  clouds  a  cheer  of  triumph  rang  out 
from  Pittsburg  Landing ;  the  enemy's  last  desperate 
charged  was  repulsed,  and  from  the  southern  bank  of  the 
river  came  the  shouts  from  Bueli's  cavalry  advance. 


27* 


S18  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

The  night  of  that  fearful  Sabbath  came  to  the 
valley  over  which  hung  the  shadow  of  death.  No 
rest  for  the  starving,  wearied  men,  who  lay  on  their 
arms  and  "  anxiously  thought  of  the  morrow."  The 
enemy  were  reveling  in  the  captured  camps,  and  the 
wounded  were  uncared  for ;  still  through  the  night  the 
stragglers  were  reorganized,  and  Lew  Wallace  joined 
his  division  close  up  to  the  right.  During  the  black 
hours  the  steamers  were  busy  passing  back  and  forth, 
while  regiments  left  their  decks  and  took  position  in 
the  extended  lines.  All  w^as  quiet  as  the  previous 
night,  but  how  different !  Occasionally  a  screeching 
shell  from  the  gunboats  flew  over  the  Union  ranks, 
while,  as  if  in  mockery  of  the  battle  sounds,  '*  the 
thunder  drums  of  heaven"  rolled  and  rattled,  and 
the  battle-field  was  drenched  with  rain. 

Monday  morning,  the  7th,  came,  and  thirty  thousand 
fresh  men  were  ready  to  confront  the  victorious  foe. 
On  the  ground  held  by  the  noble  Wallace,  Nelson 
placed  his  gallant  brigade.  To  his  right  came  Crit- 
tenden, then  McCook,  Hurlburt,  McClernand  and 
Sherman.  Divided  among  the  latter  two  divisions 
were  the  remnants  of  Wallace  and  Prentiss's  com- 
mands, and  on  the  extreme  right  was  stationed  Lew 
Wallace's  fighting  division.  It  was  noticeable  that  in 
all  these  divisions  there  was  but  one  regiment  from 
east  of  the  Ohio  line,  viz.,  the  gallant  Seventy-seventh 
Pennsylvania,  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Stam- 
baugh. 

It  was  past  seven  in  themoraing  when  Lew  Wallace 
began  the  battle  by  a  brisk  artillery  fire,  to  which  the 
enemy  was  not  slow  to  respond.  Gradually  tlie  thun- 
der spread  along  the  line,  till  Nelson  took  it  up,  and 


THE  VICTORIOUS  SECOND  DAY.  319 

advancing  his  command  beyond  Hm-lburt's  old  camp^ 
he  met  the  enemy,  who  evidently  intended  to  try  the 
crushing-out-in-detail  process  practiced  so  suc- 
cessfully the  day  before.  They  massed  and  charged 
Nelson,  but  it  was  to  find  themselves  mowed 
down  by  Terrell's  howitzers,  and  harassed  by  Jack- 
son's cavalry.  Westward  the  rebel  line  surged 
and  struck  Crittenden,  punishing  Smith's  brigade, 
but  the  success  was  short-lived,  for  Boyle  and 
Woods  rushed  to  the  rescue  and  hurled  back  the 
astonished  foe,  capturing  a  battery  of  their  artillery. 
Still  west  the  rebels  struck,  till  McCook  checked  them 
in  their  desperate  efforts  to  capture  an  Illinois  bat- 
tery, around  which  the  Sixth  Indiana  fought  like  bull- 
dogs. Then  Rousseau,  McClemand,  and  Hurlburt, 
the  latter  with  jaded  but  still  able  men,  pushed  for- 
ward toward  the  old  camps,  driving  back  Bragg  in 
confusion,  and  sending  their  shouts  of  victory  west- 
ward to  Wallace  and  Sherman.  The  enemy  was  tired 
of  the  assaults  that  cost  him  so  fearfully,  and  about 
noon  began  a  terrific  fire,  which  was  simply  a  mask 
for  his  retreat.  To  the  left,  where  Nelson  fought,  the 
rebels  had  been  working  a  battery,  captured  the  pre- 
vious day,  with  murderous  efiect.  As  Nelson  ad- 
vanced, Jackson's  cavalry  was  ordered  up  a  ravine  to 
take  the  battery  in  flank.  Robert  Warren  with  his 
men  had  reported  to  their  company  the  previous  night, 
when  it  came  up  with  Buell,  and  though  they  had 
fought  bravely  in  the  confused  ranks  of  yesterday's 
battle,  all  felt  better  in  the  saddle  with  their  own  reg- 
iment. Up  the  ravine,  rough  and  rugged,  the  regi- 
ment pushed,  and  under  a  galling  fire  they  ascended 
the   side  within  two  hundred  vards  of  the  battery, 


820  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

which  was  well  supported.  Quickly,  while  the  regi- 
ment was  forming,  a  section  wheeled  to  oppose  them. 
Then  the  sahers  leaped  along  the  line,  and  the  bugle 
sounded  the  *'  charge,"  which  the  men  shouted  as  their 
horses  leaped  forward  to  obey  the  summons.  The 
artillery  opened,  ploughing  gaps  in  the  double  line  of 
crowding  horses,  while  the  infantry  poured  in  a  fire  be- 
fore which  many  a  saddle  was  emptied,  and  many  a 
gallant  steed  fell  suddenly  when  half  the  distance  had 
been  gone  over,  Don  leaped  ahead  of  the  line  as  if 
in  a  furious  race.  Robert  in  the  stirmps,  his  sword 
hanging  to  his  wrist  by  the  knot,  with  all  his  force 
jerked  the  bridle  to  stop  the  frantic  animal.  The  bit 
broke  in  the  effort,  and  the  uncontrolled  horse,  with 
the  bit  dangling  at  his  ears,  swept  down  toward  the 
rebel  guns.  To  jump  off  would  be  to  be  killed  by 
the  advancing  line,  which  now  cheered  wildly.  To  gc 
on  was  certain  death.  All  occurred  in  an  instant. 
Robert  grasped  his  sword,  cheered  back  to  the  ad- 
vancing line,  and  with  one  lightning  thought  of  home 
and  loved  ones,  he  went  straight  as  an  arrow  for  the  guns, 
behind  which  a  soldier,  blackened  with  smoke,  stood 
with  a  lanyard  in  his  hand.  A  moment  of  flame  and 
smoke,  then  a  flying  leap  across  the  gun,  and  Robert 
Warren,  on  the  plunging,  unmanageable  Don, was  slash- 
ing with  his  saber  like  an  enraged  giant  among  gunners, 
battery,  horses,  and  infantry.  A  few  secords  and  the 
whole  line  rushed  over  the  gims  with  deafening  cheers, 
and  the  infantry  supporting  turned  and  fled  without 
order.  The  cheer  from  the  left  went  westward,  and  the 
whole  line  advanced  over  the  old  camping  ground, 
throush  the  tents  filled  vrith  wounded,  and  close  be- 
hind  the  routed  enemy,  who  left  his  dead  and  wounded 


THE  CROWNING  TRIUMPH.  821 

on  the  field.  Thus,  after  thirty-eight  hours  of  the 
most  terrible  fighting  ever  witnessed  before  on  the 
continent,  victory  was  snatched  by  valor  from  the 
jaws  of  defeat,  and  the  flags  of  the  Union  were  pushed 
by  patriots  still  further  South. 


CHAPTER  XXX, 


THE   IDEAL   BATTLE. 

There  is  a  fascination  in  the  stories  of  battle  that 
thrills  one — the  long,  gleaming  lines  of  steel ;  the 
death-dealing  batteries  ;  the  fiery,  restless  horses  ;  the 
waving  flags  and  standards,  and,  ringing  above  all 
sounds  the  trumpet's  brazen  call,  or  the  martial  airs 
of  the  bands.  We  read  of  the  sweeping  charges  of 
masses  of  horsemen,  with  flashing  swords  and  terrify- 
ing cheers,  and  our  hearts  throb  as  we  picture  the  op- 
posing hollow  squares  of  infantry  receiving  the  charge 
with  kneeling  lines  of  bayonets  and  a  storm  of  deadly 
fire.  In  the  old  stories  that  captivated  us  there  was 
a  mathematical  accuracy  in  the  movements  described. 
Regiments  were  always  organized,  batteries  always 
working  with  fine  precision  in  the  right  place,  and  the 
cavalry  were  held  to  be  pushed  forward  at  the  moment 
of  the  enemy's  weakness  ;  murderous  storms  of  lead  ; 
irresistible  charges,  where  swords  and  bayonets 
clashed,  and  standards  rose  and  fell  above  the  din  and 
smoke  and  tumult;  electrifying  commands  from  well- 
loved  leaders,  and  dying  cheers  from  bleeding  heroes  ; 
band-men  to  care  for  the  wounded ;  hospitals  ready 
to  receive  them  ;  and  a  general  idea  pervading  all  that 
every  movement  was  in  accordance  with  a  previously- 
arranged  plan  by  the  great  genius  commanding — all 
these  went  to  make  up  our  notions  of  a  battle.    To 


THE  REAL  BATTLE.  323 

some  extent  these  pictures,  as  applied  to  European 
conflicts,  were  correct,  but  they  were  wholly  inappli- 
cable to  any  fight  during  the  late  American  war.     As 
at  Shiloh,  so  in  a  hundred  other  fights.    Long,  opposing 
lines  of  infantry  and  artillery  at  varying  distances, 
stretching  over  fields  and    through   woods,  poured 
deadly  volleys  of  shot  and  shell  into  the  confronting 
lines.     Here  a  company  of  skirmishers,  feeling  the 
uncertain  front;   there  a  regiment  or  brigade  dash- 
ing forward  to  break  the  opposing  line.     But,  as  a 
rute,  it  was  one  whirlwind  of  fire,  before  which  com- 
panies and  regiments  melted.     The  individuality  of 
the  soldier  was  never  lost.     Groups  of  broken  organi- 
zations rallied  to  fight  on  their  own  responsibility. 
Men  sprang  out  of  line  to  aid  a  falling  comrade  or 
secure  a  wounded  officer.     There  was  one  rallying 
point  in  moments  of  defeat,  where  the  men  gathered 
with  determined  faces :  the  center  of  the  regiment, 
where  the  colors  were  held  above  the  smoke,  and 
guarded  with  a  desperate  valor,  even  whea  the  battle 
was  felt  to  be  lost.     To  the  rear  of  the  lines  of  battle 
the   wounded   who    could   walk   usually  hobbled   or 
staggered  back,  trying  as  they  moved  to  stop  the 
bleeding  till  they  could  reach  the  field  hospital  of 
their  command.    As  at  Shiloh,  we  had  but  few  pursuits 
after  a  conflict,  for  there  were  but  few  decisive  battles. 
Each  side  fought  with  a  desperate  determination,  and 
the  close  of  an  engagement  saw  both  sides  too  much 
exhausted  for  a  long  retreat  or  a  vigorous  pursuit. 
But  on  the  field  there  was  all  the  suffering  and  car- 
nage which  gave  the  red  color  to  the  old  battle  pic- 
tures.    The  dead,  here  in  piles  where  they  fell  about 
the  colors  or  in  defense  of  a  battery  ;  there  in  irregu- 


324  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

lar  lines  where  they  dropped  in  the  ranks ;  in  the  ad- 
vance a  bhie  coat  or  a  gray,  sprinkled  where  they  fell 
on  the  skirmish  line ;  in  every  attitude — one  grasp- 
ing his  gun,  with  his  face  to  the  foe,  and  his  strong 
breast  torn  by  the  exploded  shell ;  another  lying  on 
his  back,  with  open  mouth  and  purple  face,  and  a 
small,  red  hole  through  his  throat ;  a  boy,  resting  his 
fair  head  on  his  bent  arm,  as  if  asleep,  while  the  blood 
in  a  black  pool  shone  below  his  white  forehead ;  a 
strong,  heavily-bearded  man,  sitting  against  a  tree 
which  a  cannon  shot  had  struck,  while  his  torn,  crushed 
limbs  are  gathered  up  under  him,  and  fragments  of 
w^hite  bone  stick  through  the  red  flesh  and  blue  pants  ; 
a  horse,  with  the  ground  torn  about  him,  marking  the 
agony  of  his  death-struggle,  while  the  extended  neck 
and  head  are  clotted  with  blood ;  a  group  of  horses, 
dead  near  some  broken  cannon,  harness  tangled  and 
torn,  and  a  great,  black  hole  in  the  ground,  and  pieces 
of  charred  wood  lying  about,  telling  that  a  caisson 
had  exploded  there ;  a  horse  and  a  rider  dead  side 
by  side,  one  of  the  soldier's  feet  still  fast  in  the  stir- 
rup, and  his  sword  broken  in  the  fall ;  a  pool  of  dirty 
water,  with  a  circle  of  dead  and  wounded,  friend  and 
foe,  gathered  about  it.  These  are  the  silent  horrors  of 
the  field.  Who  can  portray  the  suffering  of  the 
wounded,  the  groans  and  cries  of  distress,  the  api^eals 
for  aid,  the  prayers  for  death  to  come  in  relief,  the 
parched  lips  and  swollen  tongues  begging  far  water ; 
the  shattered  arms  and  mangled  limbs,  bandaged 
with  torn  clothes,  or  the  bleeding  stayed  by  conv 
pressed  belts  ?  On  the  field,  when  the  fight  has  closed, 
there  are  no  foes,  and  a  common  himianity  and  com- 
mon suffering  blot  out  the  late  anger  and  revenge, 


PROMOTION  AHEAD.  325 

and  mercy  for  the  time  takes  possession  of  the  field 
of  strife. 

With  Albert  Sidney  Johnston  killed,  and  eleven 
thousand  dead  and  wounded  in  the  hands  of  the 
Union  forces,  and  the  great  object  of  the  battle  un- 
accomplished, the  Confederates  fell  slowly  back  to 
Corinth,  for  the  time  broked  and  dispirited.  A  short 
pursuit  by  General  Sherman  resulted  in  the  capture 
of  a  large  number  of  stragglers,  but  three  days  elapsed 
before  Grant's  shattered  army  was  ready  to  obey 
Halleck's  order  for  an  investment  of  Corinth. 

A  few  days  after  the  battle  Robert,  who  was  again 
with  his  company,  much  to  Archy's  delight,  received 
a  note  from  Colonel  Jackson,  asking  him  to  come  at 
once  to  his  tent.  Supposing  there  was  more  scouting 
prepared  for  him,  he  reported  immediately  to  the 
colonel,  who  received  him  with  great  warmth  of  man- 
ner, and  without  the  stiff  etiquette  peculiar  to  strict 
military  business. 

' '  Wan-en,  I  must  congratulate  you,"  said  the  colo- 
nel ;  "  that  affair  at  Shiloh  on  Monday  has  made  you 
famous." 

"I  am  truly  sorry  to  hear  it,  colonel ;  for,  as  I  told 
you  before,  it  was  the  merest  accident,  and  I  am  not 
entitled  to  the  praise  I  have  received  from  you  and 
my  comrades." 

''  We  are  the  best  judges  of  that,  my  dear  fellow. 
I  wish  to  tell  you  that  E  Company  is  without  a  com- 
missioned officer,  and  I  have  sent  in  your  name  for 
the  captaincy.  This  meets  the  approval  of  General 
Nelson,  whom  by  the  way  we  must  go  and  see  at 
once."  As  the  colonel  spoke  he  put  on  his  hat  and 
belt,  and  left  the  tent  with  Robert.  General  Nelson 
28 


326  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

was  a  huge  burly  man,  looking  more  like  a  retired 
English  sea  captain  than  an  American  soldier.  His 
face  was  florid,  his  manner  brusque  and  at  times 
apparently  rude  ;  yet  he  had  the  kindest  and  bravest 
of  hearts,  and  under  his  rough  exterior  he  cari'ied 
the  most  genial  of  dispositions. 

"  Hello,  Jackson  !  glad  to  see  you ;  come  in,  come 
in  !  Here,  damn  you,"  to  the  black  servant,  "  get 
stools  for  the  gentlemen.     There,  be  seated." 

G-eneral  Nelson  thus  addressed  Colonel  Jackson 
and  his  companion  as  they  entered  his  tent. 

"This  is  Mr.  Warren,  general,  the  young  man 
who  led  the  charge  on  the  battery  in  front  of  your 
division." 

"  The  devil  you  say  !  Why,  Warren,  give  me  your 
hand.  Bravest  thing  I  ever  sa\7  in  my  life.  As- 
tounded those  battery -men.  Here,  Piper,  the  whisky. 
Must  drink  Captain  Warren's  health." 

* '  I  am  very  thankful  for  your  kindness,  general,  but 
it  is  due  to  the  regiment  to  say  that  I  do  not  deserve 
it.  My  bit  broke  early  in  the  charge,  and  I  lost  all 
control  of  my  horse,  a  very  spirited  animal.  Of 
course  there  was  nothing  left  but  to  ride  for  the  battery.'* 

As  Kobert  said  this  his  face  grew  a  deeper  bronze 
and  he  looked  down  at  his  boots. 

"  Why  the  devil  didn't  you  jump  off,  then,  when 
your  horse  got  so  far  ahead?"  asked  the  general  with 
a  chuckling  laugh. 

'•In  truth  T  did  think  about  it,"  replied  Robert, 
"but  I  made  up  my  mind  that  it  was  death  in  any 
event,  so  I  preferred  dying  at  the  hands  of  the  enemy." 

"By  the  Gods  of  war,  sir,  you  're  a  brick  !  You  did 
just  right.     Here,  your  health,  Captain  Warren." 


CAPTAIN  ROBERT  WARREN.  327 

The   .general   passed   the   glasses,   and  all  drank. 

'*I  have  learned  your  history,  captain,  and  let  me 
say  I  respect  you — yes,  sir,  I  respect  you.  To-night  I 
v/ill  see  General  Buell,  and  I  think  we  can  fix  you  all 
right." 

At  these  compliments  Robert  blushed  more  deeply, 
and  got  so  confused  that  he  could  only  stammer  out 
his  thanks.  The  general  saw  this  and  changed  the 
conversation,  and  Robert  declared  as  he  left  the  tent 
with  Colonel  Jackson  that  he  never  met  a  more 
delightful  man  in  his  life.  To  which  the  colonel 
replied : 

''There  are  a  great  many  opinions  about  General 
Nelson  as  a  gentleman,  but  only  one  as  to  his  patriot- 
ism and  bravery." 

The  news  of  Robert's  promotion  spread  through  the 
camp  like  wildfire,  and  earnest  congratulations  poured 
in  from  all  sides.  His  cousin  Allen,  however,  was 
deeply  affected,  and  held  Robert's  hand  for  a  long 
time  as  he  expressed  his  satisfaction  at  his  being  an 
officer. 

That  night,  as  they  sat  at  supper,  they  were  both 
struck  and  amused  by  the  expression  of  undisguised 
delight  on  Archy's  face.  That  very  respectable  fel- 
low was  acting  as  if  he  had  partaken  largely  of  laugh- 
ing-gas, with  the  happiest  possible  effect.  He  laughed 
at  every  plate  and  knife  he  placed.  He  chuckled  and 
laughed  at  the  frying  meat  and  roasting  sweet  pota- 
toes.  He  smiled  serenely  at  every  passing  form.  At 
times  he  would  stand  twisting  his  canvas  apron  around 
his  hands  and  staring  with  an  expression  of  suppressed 
mirth  at  his  old  mastei- ;  and  then,  as  if  unable  to  con- 
tain  himself,  he   would  burst  out  with  a  hobbling, 


328  WAKREN  OF  TEXAS. 

musical  laugh,  interspersed  with  such  expressions  ass 
"Praise  de  Lor'!"  "  Ki  yi,  what 'ud  Susey  say?" 
**  O  golly,  I  knowd  it,  shuah  !  " 

It  was  impossible  for  Robert  not  to  notice  these 
very  peculiar  proceedings  of  his  ex-sei'\^ant.  So  he 
did  what  Archy  had  been  trying  to  get  him  to  do  for 
some  time — that  is,  to  ask  him  the  cause  of  his  ex- 
cessive hilarity. 

"Don't  yeh  know,  Mauss  Robert?  Don't  yeh 
know,  shuah?"  And  Archy  chuckled  again  to  such  an 
extent  that  in  prudence  he  left  the  back  of  Captain 
Allen's  camp-stool  and  gave  the  fire  a  joyous  kick. 

"  I  can  't  say  that  I  do  know,  Archy  ;  but  I  assure 
you  I  am  very  happy  to  see  you  in  such  spirits,"  said 
Robert,  looking  up  with  a  sly  smile  at  Archy,  who  had 
returned  and  was  again  torturing  his  apron. 

"Yeh 're  shuah  yeh  doesn't  know?"  again  asked 
Archy. 

"  Yes,  sure." 

"  0  golly,  Mauss  Robert." 

"Well,  Archy,  out  with  it." 

"  Mauss  Robert,  yeh 's  an  offsir.  Ki  yi,  doesn't  yeh 
know  yeh 's  an  offsir?"  and  Archy  opened  his  great 
eyes  and  gave  a  wondering  laugh. 

"  Yes,  Archy,  I  think  I  am  to  be,  and  I  am  glad 
you  are  pleased,"  said  Robert,  looking  down  at  his 
plate,  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  thoughts  running 
through  Archy's  head. 

After  supper  Archy  hurried  through  with  the  clean- 
ing up,  and  packed  everything  in  the  camp-chest ;  then 
he  came  to  the  tent-door  and  looked  in  for  an  instant 
as  if  to  attract  Robert's  attention,  which  he  did  not 
succeed  in  doing ;  so  he  walked  away  and  came  back 


"IT'S  DE  ODDER  CAP'N  I  WANTS."  329 

from  the  fire  in  a  few  minutes  and  looked  in  again. 
Ilobert  noticed  him  and  asked  : 

*'Archy,  do  you  wish  to  see  Captain  Warren?" 

*'  Yes,  mauss,  I  does." 

Allen  rose  to  walk  out,  but  xlrchy,  with  a  laugh, 
said : 

"  Not  you,  Mauss  Al.   It 's  de  odder  cap'n  I  wants." 

The  captains  laughed  heartily  at  this,  and  Robert 
went  out,  when  Archy  led  him  mysteriously  to  the 
line  where  the  horses  were  picketed  and  pointed  out 
Senor,  who  was  in  splendid  condition. 

"  Mauss  Kobert,  yeh  kin  have  me  *  long  now,  yeh  's 
an  offsir — can't  yeh?" 

*'  Why,  yes,  Archy,  if  you  would  like  to  leave  Allen," 
said  Robert,  with  an  ariected  indifference. 

*'If  I'd  like  to  leave  Mauss  Al?  Why,  Mauss 
Robert,  hav  'nt  I  worked  an'  look  'd  for'd  to  this  day, 
a-prayin*  I  might  be  'long  wid  yeh  again  ?  An'  now 
yeh  does  n't  keer  !"  Archy  dropped  his  head  with  a 
dejected  air  as  he  concluded,  but  his  whole  expres- 
sion changed  as  he  felt  his  own  hand  clasped  by  his 
master's  and  heard  him  say  : 

"Archy,  I  did  not  care  for  this  commission  on  my 
own  account,  but  I  did  on  yours.  I  wanted  you  near 
me.  And  from  this  day  forth  only  death  can  come  to 
keep  us  apart." 

Archy  returned  the  pressure  with  no  gentle  squeeze, 
and  a  hot  drop  fell  on  his  master's  hand.  He  was  too 
full  to  express  his  feelings  beyond  ejaculating,  "Oh, 
praise  de  Lor'  I  praise  de  Lor' !" 

That  night  as  Robert  lay  in  liis  tent  he  saw  the  fly 
opened  nearly  every  hour  and  the  tall  form  of  Archy  as 
he  peered  in,  and  he  heard,  as  in  a  dream,  the  soft 
28* 


330  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

voice  pouring  out  the  hymns  that  suggested  home 
and  brought  up  all  its  happier  memories. 

While  in  camp  near  Corinth,  Colonel  Jackson  sent 
Robert  an  order  he  had  received  from  General  Buell, 
which  was  to  send  Captain  Robert  Warren  and  twenty 
such  men  as  he  might  select  to  his  (General  Buell's) 
headquarters  at  once, 

Robert  was  very  anxious  to  secure  a  lieutenancy 
for  Gaines,  and  have  him  assigned  to  his  company ; 
and  for  this  reason  he  sought  every  opportunity  to 
have  that  brave  fellow's  sterling  merits  known.  Of 
course  he  was  the  first  man  selected,  and  with  him  the 
Dawns,  Aleck  Cameron,  and  Tennessee's  Western 
friends,  "Indian  Nation,"  "Arkansas,"  and  Long 
Sam.  It  was  an  easy  matter  to  find  men  anxious  to 
accompany  Robert  on  his  supposed  scout,  for  the 
daring  and  success  of  his  expeditions  were  becoming 
subjects  for  camp-fire  recital. 

On  reporting  in  the  evening,  and  a  few  hours  after 
getting  the  order,  to  General  Buell,  Captain  Robert 
Warren — to  give  him  his  title  for  once — was  instructed 
to  make  a  scout  in  the  direction  of  Holly  Springs, 
where  it  was  supposed  the  enemy  was  organizing  for 
a  dash  northward,  and,  having  obtained  all  the  in- 
formation he  could,  to  return  to  the  army  at  Corinth, 
or  to  report  to  Colonel  Philip  H.  Sheridan,  if  he  found 
his  command  easier  of  access. 

That  night  Robert  Warren  and  his  scouts,  by  a  de- 
tour, got  beyond  the  Union  lines  and  turned  south 
toward  Holly  Springs,  intending  to  make  their  observa- 
tions the  next  night.  The  country  was  thinly  settled 
and  the  roads  heavy  and  sandy,  but  both  grew  better 
as  he  got  further  south  from  the  line  of  Tennessee. 


ONE  OF  THE  CHIVALRY.  331 

That  evening  he  went  into  camp  in  a  piece  of  woods 
near  a  large  cotton  plantation  about  a  half  mile  from 
the  main  road.  A  short  time  afterwards  an  elderly 
gentleman,  attracted  by  the  smoke,  made  his  ap- 
pearance and  introduced  himself,  in  the  most  affable 
manner,  as  "  Dr.  Miller,  the  proprietor  of  the  planta- 
tion." Robert  was  glad  to  see  him,  and  soon  made 
an-angements  for  the  purchase  of  fodder  for  the  horses 
and  additional  food  for  the  men.  Dr.  Miller  was  a 
Southern  gentleman  of  the  old  school ;  that  is,  he  was 
generous,  impulsive,  sensitive,  and  conceited,  and  the 
half  hour  he  spent  with  the  scouts,  whose  true  char- 
acter he  of  course  knew  nothing  of,  was  occupied  by 
minute  details  of  what  he  would  have  done  had  the 
war  occurred  ten  years  before ;  what  he  might  be 
tempted  to  do  if  the  Yankees  came  within  gun-shot 
of  his  home,  for  old  as  he  was  he  considered  himself 
still  a  match  for  a  dozen  of  ' '  the  cowardly  negro- 
stealers,"  as  he  called  the  Northern  soldiers. 

It  cost  nothing  for  Robert  to  tell  Dr.  Miller  that  he 
honored  his  spirit  and  devotion,  and  hoped  the  young 
men  would  emulate  his  example.  Indeed  this  little 
piece  of  judicious  flattery  completely  won  the  chival- 
rous old  man,  who  began  to  think  Robert  a  young 
fellow  of  judgment  and  sense,  so  he  consequently 
extended  an  invitation  for  him  to  spend  the  evening 
at  his  house.  Robert  accepted  with  profuse  thanks, 
and,  after  instructing  Graines  carefully  as  to  what 
should  be  done,  he  accompanied  the  doctor  to  his 
very  comfortable  home  :  that  is,  the  place  was  com- 
fortable for  a  Mississippi  planter's  house.  It  was 
white,  and  had  the  stereotyped  disproportioned  pil- 
lars before  it  and  the  wide  gallery  around  it.     The 


332  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

grounds  were  very  slovenly  kept.  They  had  been 
well  laid  out  once,  but  the  neglect  and  weeds  spoke 
of  aesthetical  plans  never  fully  carried  out.  The  in- 
terior of  the  house  was  in  keeping  with  the  outside. 
A  wide  hall,  without  carpet  or  matting,  that  echoed 
the  footfalls  like  a  deserted  or  haunted  castle.  A 
mild  smell  of  decay  in  the  large,  slovenly- furnished 
parlor,  with  its  faded  gilt  paper  and  mock-chande- 
liers. Robert  took  a  hasty  inventory  of  the  place 
as  the  servant  entered  with  lights,  and  the  doctor 
went  out  to  order  supper. 

An  unexpected  pleasure  was  in  store  for  Robert. 
At  the  supper-table  he  was  introduced  to  two  hand- 
some, tall  young  ladies,  both  dressed  alike,  and  re- 
sembling each  other  like  two  drops  of  water.  They 
were  the  doctor's  twin  daughters  and  only  children. 
He  was  a  widower,  and  felt  a  just  pride  in  his  beauti- 
ful children.  In  truth,  Robert's  respect  for  the  old 
gentleman  went  up  at  once,  he  frowning  upon  the 
doctor's  wish  that  one  of  them  had  been  a  son,  in 
order  that  he  might  fight  for  the  South. 

After  supper,  in  answer  to  a  query  from  the  doc- 
tor, Robert  said  he  hoped  to  meet  General  Bragg  at 
Holly  Springs  next  day,  as  he  Avas  to  report  to  him 
the  result  of  his  sceut. 

"Why,  my  dear  sir,  Bragg  was  at  Tupelo  a  few 
days  since  waiting  for  Beauregard  to  join  him ;  he 
surely  would  not  come  over  to  Holly  Springs  at  this 
critical  time,"  said  the  doctor,  with  some  excitement. 

Robert  lowered  his  voice,  and  in  a  confidential  and 
mysterious  tone  said:  "Doctor,  you  will  hear  of 
things  that  will  astonish  you  beA)re  this  week  is  past* 
I  know  of  combinations  that  would  make  your  hair 
rise.     Some  day  you  will  know  all." 


THE  FAIR  TWINS.  333 

The  doctor  appreciated  Robert's  confidence,  for  he 
lowered  his  voice  and  mysteriously  said :  "  You  aston- 
ish me." 

"  Do  you  know  what  troops  are  at  the  Springs  now?" 
asked  Robert ;  then,  as  if  correcting  himself  for  ask- 
ing such  a  question,  he  added,  self  reprovingly,  "but 
of  course,  you  do  not,  the  men  are  so  cautiously  on 
the  move." 

"The  Texas  Rangers  are  there  now.  You  know 
them,  no  doubt,"  said  the  doctor,  nodding  in  the 
direction  of  Robert,  who  replied : 

'*  Oh  yes,  very  well." 

"  I  suppose,"  continued  the  doctor,  "  you  know  that 
Wharton  commands  them  now ;  that  Terry  is  dead. 
A  noble  fellow  Terry  was." 

*'  Yes,  a  brave  man  ;  but  one  equally  daring  is  at 
the  head  of  the  gallant  Eighth,  Wharton  is  a  splen- 
did soldier,"  said  Robert,  with  undisguised  earnest- 
ness. 

"Do  you  know  any  of  the  men  in  the  Rangers?" 
asked  the  doctor,  and  without  waiting  for  an  answer 
he  went  on,  "  I  have  a  nephew  who  belongs  to  them, 
a  splendid  young  fellow,  from  Brazoria,  named  Addi- 
son, a  sister's  child.  By  the  way,  I  expect  him  here 
about  10  o'clock." 

"  I  would  be  very  glad  to  meet  any  of  the  regiment, 
particularly  if  related  to  my  fair  friends,"  said  Robert, 
bowing  in  the  direction  of  the  young  ladies,  who  sat 
suggestively  near  the  piano. 

Robert,  who  really  loved  music,  asked,  as  a  favor, 
that  the  ladies  would  play,  and  with  well-bred  willing, 
ness  they  at  once  acquiesced.  The  captain  was  a 
soldier,  so  they  indulged  him,  by  way  of  a  prelude. 


334  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

with  "  The  Bonnie  Blue  Flag,"  *' Dixie/'  with  appro- 
priate words,  and  a  queer,  figurative  song  of  remark- 
able poetic  ability,  called  "  The  Southern  "Wagon." 
in  which  the  States — South — were  represented  as 
piling  into  a  vehicle,  one  after  the  other,  unlike  the 
original  swain  and  his  "  Phillis  dear,"  and  each  stanza 
ended  with  the  delightful  refrain — 

"  Then  wait  for  the  wagon, 
The  dissolution  wagon, 
Oh !  wait  for  the  wagon. 
And  we  '11  all  take  a  ride." 

Fortunately  Eobert  knew  the  air,  and,  with  a  fitting 
military  enthusiasm,  he  walked  to  the  piano  at  the 
first  martial  sound,  and,  with  his  deep  bass,  swelled 
out  the  chorus  to  the  great  delight  of  the  doctor, 
who  beat  time  on  the  matting  with  his  feet.  During 
the  singing  Robert  found  time  to  look  at  his  watch : 
five  minutes  to  nine. 

Suddenly  he  became  aware  that  he  had  business  at 
camp  which  would  detain  him  a  short  time,  and,  with 
regrets  in  profusion,  he  stated  his  intention  of  leaving^ 
saying  at  the  same  time  that  if  agreeable  he  would 
return  in  a  half  hour  and  finish  his  delightful  treat. 

The  doctor  wished  to  accompany  him,  but  Bobert 
politely  put  him  off  by  saying  he  would  run  to  the 
camp  and  back  in  no  time,  which  would  be  very  un- 
dignified for  him  to  do  if  the  doctor  accompanied 
him.  The  doctor  laughed,  and  Robert  verified  his 
words  by  starting  for  the  camp  with  a  speed  tliat 
seemed  marvelous  to  the  old  man,  and  which  led  him 
as  he  entered  the  house  to  utter,  "I  could  do  that 
when  I  was  young. " 

Beaching  camp,  Robert  sought  Gaines  at  once. 


CAUTION  AND  COMPLIMENTS.  335 

"Andy,  you  know  Addison,  of  Brazoria?" 

*'I  reckon  I  do,"  said  Gaines  with  emphasis. 

"  Well,  he  is  to  visit  this  plantation,  which  his  uncle 
owns,  to-night.  Send  some  men  out  on  the  Holly 
Springs  road,  and  give  them  instructions  to  keep  safely 
all  men  who  belong  to  the  Rangers.  Let  all  bodies 
pass  that  number  more  than  four." 

**A11  right,  captain." 

"  I  am  gomg  back  to  the  house.  Send  Archy  for 
me  at  once  if  there  is  the  appearance  of  danger,  or  if 
Addison  is  captured." 

"I  will  do  so,"  said  Gaines,  while  Robert  exam- 
ined his  pistols  carefully,  and  hooked  up,  under  his 
overcoat,  his  Shiloh  sword.  He  returned  to  the  house, 
where  he  met  the  doctor  and  his  daughters  on  the 
gallery. 

"  Did  you  find  your  men  all  right,  captain  ?"  asked 
one  of  the  young  ladies. 

"Yes,  but  men  get  careless,  particularly  about 
guard  duty,  when  away  from  the  enemy's  front.  They 
think  it  an  unnecessary  work ;  but  it  is  duty,  and  I 
am  determined  to  carry  out  my  orders  to  the  letter, 
I  never  let  four  hours  of  the  night  pass  without  visit- 
ing all  parts  of  my  camp,"  said  Robert,  taking  off  his 
overcoat  as  he  entered  the  house,  with  the  beautiful 
twms  in  the  advance,  and  the  doctor  bringing  up  the 
rear. 

"I  wish  all  our  soldiers  were  like  you,  captain." 
said  the  doctor  as  they  resumed  their  seats ;  "  we 
would  soon  wind  up  the  war.  But  to  tell  the  truth,  I 
think  they  are  very  careless  as  a  rule." 

"  You  pay  me  an  undeserved  compliment,  doctor  ; 
but  I  think  I  can  say  without  vanity  that  I  wish  all 


836  WARREK  OF  TEXAS. 

Bouthem  men  were  like  me  in  principle,  there  would 
be  fewer  traitors  in  the  land,  and  no  need  for  con- 
scripting, as  I  understand  the  Confederate  govern- 
ment proposes." 

"  You  are  right,  captain  ;  the  army  is  full  of  traitors, 
and  fear  only  holds  them  in  the  ranks.  They  are  igno- 
rant as  a  rule  and  cannot  appreciate  their  rights.  Bragg 
shot  some  men  a  day  or  two  since  at  Tupelo  for  some 
petty  offense,  and  we  all  think  the  influence  will  be 
very  good.  Why,  over  in  Alabama,"  said  the  doctor, 
warming  with  his  subject,  "they  use  bloodhounds  to 
chase  the  deserters."  He  forgot  that  Mississippi  had 
thousands  of  them.  She  was  the  North  Carolina  of 
the  West,  hated  by  the  Confederate  army  for  the 
meanness  of  her  citizens  and  the  uncertainty  of  her 
Boldiers. 

Here  one  of  the  beautiful  twins  ventured  to  say : 

*'I  declare,  captain,  many  of  the  young  men  near 
here  were  for  staying  at  home,  but  the  ladies  refused 
to  receive  them.  We  clubbed  together  and  wTote 
them  round-robbin  letters,  and  sent  them  crinoline, 
and  just  drove  them  into  the  army." 

"Yes,"  interrupted  the  other  sweet  angel,  who 
played  the  accompaniments  while  her  sister  sang : 
"The  ladies  in  Jackson,  Meridian,  and  Mobile — in- 
deed in  all  our  cities  and  towns — have  resolved,  and 
organized  for  the  purpose,  not  to  see  any  gentlemen 
not  dressed  in  grey.  Personally  I  have  determined 
not  to  marry  a  man  who  is  not  certain  he  has  killed 
at  least  one  vile  Yankee." 

The  doctor  smiled  on  his  heroic  daughter  an  ap- 
proving, paternal  smile,  which  showed  the  pride  he 
felt  in  one  capable  of  such  denial  for  the  sake  of  truth. 


*'HALT  THAR!"  337 

"Few  ladies  can  boast  of  your  patriotic  spirit,  and 
should  the  fates  spare  me  to  see  you  again,  I  promise 
to  show  you  a  Yankee's  scalp,"  said  the  captain,  bow- 
ing to  the  self-denying  girl. 

The  twins  clapped  their  little  white  hands  in  ap- 
plause, and  the  doctor,  with  liquid  approval  in  his 
eyes,  smiled  at  the  captain  and  the  olive  branches. 

"While  the  captain  talked  and  sang  with  the  doctor 
and  his  daughters,  the  pickets  about  the  camp  were 
vigilant.  Gaines  remained  behind  to  give  orders, 
and  as  Archy  was  the  only  man  who  knew  Addison, 
he  sent  him  with  Tennessee  out  on  the  Holly  Springs 
road.  It  was  the  black  man's  first  duty  as  a  soldier, 
and  every  sound  was  listened  to,  and  every  shadow 
of  moving  branch  or  passing  oloud  watched.  About 
ten  o'clock,  Tennessee,  who  had  been  listening  with 
his  ear  close  to  the  ground,  rose  quickly,  and  cocking 
his  rifle  and  adjusting  his  belt,  said,  in  his  own  cool 
way. 

"  Keerful  now,  ole  boy,  I  hears  three  on  'em  a-comin* 
shuah." 

To  which  Archy  responded  :  "  Oh  golly  !  "  accom- 
panying the  trite  remark  with  a  low  chuckle.  - 

"Archy,  pull  down  yer  hat,  so's  ter  hide  that  'ar 
face  o'  youra,  an'  do  the  haltin',"  said  Tennessee, 
stepping  behind  Archy  in  the  middle  of  the  road. 

On  came  the  horsemen,  chatting  and  laughing,  seen 
where  the  half-moon  shone,  then  lost  in  the  darkness 
of  the  forest  shadows.  Unaware  of  the  vigilant 
pickets'  proximity,  they  rode  close  up  at  a  brisk  can- 
ter, when  suddenly  the  horses  were  reined  in  at  the 
sight  of  a  giant  form  with  leveled  gun  in  front,  who 
commanded  them  in  a  deep  voice,  "  Halt  thar  I  ** 
29 


338  -    WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Then  another  huge  form  rose  up  with  polished  rifle- 
barrel  in  the  indistinct  light  and  pointed  it  at  the 
breast  of  the  second  horseman. 

*' Who  goes  thar?"  asks  the  deep  voice. 

** Friends  of  the  Confederacy,  by  thunder!  Who 
ever  imagined  there  was  a  picket  in  this  region?" 
responded  the  well-known  voice  of  Addison. 

"It 's  him,"  whispered  Archy. 

*'  Dismount  an'  'vance  one  at  a  time,"  said  Tennes- 
see, stepping  quickly  beside  Archy. 

The  first  man  who  dismounted  gave  his  name  as 
Addison,  and,  being  disarmed,  he  stepped  to  the  rear. 
The  others  advanced  and  were  disarmed  in  the  same 
manner.  Addison  seemed  indignant,  and  evinced  a 
spirit  to  complain  at  his  treatment,  but  Tennessee, 
who  had  fastened  the  horses  to  some  saplings,  ordered 
them  to  move  ahead,  intimating  that  he  might  be 
tempted  to  shoot  if  there  was  too  much  talk. 

When  near  the  camp-fire  the  prisoners  were  ordered 
to  sit  down,  and  a  guard  was  placed  over  them  by 
Gaines. 

Addison  was  not  aware  of  the  character  of  his  cap- 
tors, and  he  expostulated  against  such  treatment. 

*' Where  are  your  passes?"  demanded  Gaines. 

".We  have  none.  Our  regiment  is  close  by,  and 
after  'taps'  I  thought  I  'd  run  over  and  see  my  uncle, 
who  lives  close  by.  Come,  lieutenant,  there  is  no 
use  in  holding  us  for  nothing."  This  was  said  by 
Addison  in  a  pleading  tone,  but  Gaines  was  determined 
in  his  reply. 

"  I  have  orders  to  an-est  any  man  who  travels  this  road 
to-night  without  authority.  The  captain  will  be  here 
presently  ;  speak  to  him." 


"GOSH,  MAUSS,  WE'SE  GOT  'EM!"  339 

The  prisoners  swore  and  growled  at  their  ill  luck. 
In  the  meantime  Archy  hm-ried  to  the  house,  where 
the  captain  was  listening  in  raptures  to  ' '  Beauregard's 
Grand  March."  On  learning  that  his  servant  wished 
to  see  him,  Robert  excused  himself  and  stepped  out. 
As  he  did  so  Archy  seized  his  arms  and  in  a  hurried 
whisper  said  :  "Gosh,  Mauss  Robut,  we  'se  got  'em/* 

"What,  Addison?" 

•'  Yas,  Adsou  He  did  n't  know  me  Oalled  me 
'sail'  an'  'sargent.'  I'd  like 'd  ter  larf  right  out," 
and  xirchy  put  his  hand  to  his  mouth  to  suppress  the 
chuckle  which  the  memory  of  the  event  excited. 

Robert  returned  to  the  parlor,  and,  thanking  the 
family  for  their  courteous  treatment,  said  he  must 
return  at  once  to  camp,  as  a  courier  had  arrived  with 
orders  that  must  be  acted  on  without  delay. 

The  doctor  regretted  that  the  captain  could  not  stay 
until  his  nephew  arrived,  and  the  young  ladies  for 
once  deemed  duty  to  the  Confederacy  cruel.  Bidding 
them  good-bye,  Robert  returned  to  camp,  and,  after  a 
hasty  consultation  between  himself,  Gaines,  and  Ten- 
nessee, it  was  decided  to  examine  the  prisoners  sepa- 
rately, with  a  loaded  pistol  close  to  the  head  of  each 
while  being  questioned,  first  informing  them  that  their 
captors  were  Yankees.  If  the  stories  corroborated,  it 
would  prevent  the  necessity  for  a  scout  around  the 
Springs.  Extinguishing  the  fii*es,  Robert  gave  the 
order  to  "saddle  up,"  attending  to  his  own  horse, 
while  Archy  quickly  mounted  and  galloped  back  after 
the  horses  of  the  Texans.  The  prisoners,  closely 
guarded,  were  placed  on  their  own  horses,  and  not  an 
answer  given  to  their  wondering  questions,  while 
Robert  led  the  advance,  riding  toward  a  swamp  which 


340  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

they  had  passed  about  three  miles  back  on  the  road, 
lleaching  this  they  rode  in  some  distance,  and  the 
order  was  given  to  dismount.  The  ground  was  miry 
and  wet.  The  moon  had  gone  down,  and  the  black 
ash  and  tamarack  trees,  with  their  drooping  branches, 
gave  an  air  of  gloom  to  the  place,  which  was  intensi- 
fied by  the  occasional  "hoot,  hoot"  of  an  owl  and 
the  croaking  of  countless  frogs. 

"  It  is,  perhaps,  unnecessary  to  tell  you,"  said 
Kobert,  advancing  to  the  prisoners,  and  speaking  in  a 
firm  tone,  "that  you  are  prisoners  in  the  hands  of 
Union  scouts.  Should  we  be  captured  in  this  service 
we  would  expect  no  mercy  from  the  rebels,  and  con- 
sequently we  feel  inclined  to  return  none.  Your  only 
chance  for  escape  is  to  answer  truthfully  such  ques- 
tions as  I  may  put  to  you.  I  will  examine  you  sepa- 
rately, and  if  the  stories  do  not  agree  I  will  send  you 
farther  into  this  swamp,  and  no  man  will  ever  know 
your  fate.  Walk  this  way,  sir."  Robert  motioned 
to  the  prisoner  nearest  to  him,  who  immediately 
obeyed  the  order. 

Walking  back  some  distance  the  prisoner  said : 
"  I  'm  willin'  ter  tell  all  I  knows,  an'  that  ain'  t  much," 
whereupon  he  gave  his  regiment  and  brigade,  with 
the  names  of  the  organizations  at  the  Springs  and  by 
whom  commanded. 

After  learning  all  he  could  in  this  way,  Robert  said* 

"You  say  John  Wharton  is  your  colonel?" 

"  That 's  what  I  meant  to  say,"  replied  the  prisoner. 

"Where  is  Colonel  Wharton  now?"    asked  Robert. 

♦'Wall,  cap'n,  I  don't  like  to  say,"  said  the  pris- 
oner, in*  a  hesitating  tone. 

"  You  must  be  the  judge  of  your  own  answers,"  said 


SWAMPED.  341 

Bobert,  sternly.  "Here,  Aleck  Cameron,  bring  me 
the  halter  from  this  man's  horse. 

"  Stop,  cap'n,  ye  've  got  the  dead  wood  on  me  this 
time.  I  '11  tell  yeh  all  about  it ;"  and  the  prisoner's 
voice  grew  tremulous. 

"Well,  where  is  John  Wharton?" 

*'  Why,  he  an'  Major  Harrison  is  back  on  the  next 
plantation  to  the  doctor's.   The  regiment 's  close  by." 

"How  far  from  there  is  the  regiment?"  asked 
Kobert. 

"  Not  mor  'n  a  mile.  Fact  is,  we  *s  a-goin'  on  a 
raid  inside  the  Yankee  lines  to-morrow,  and  the  regi- 
ment was  pushed  out  to-night  so '  s  to  give  us  a  good 
6tart  in  the  mornin'." 

The  other  prisoner  was  brought  up,  and  his  state- 
ments agreed  in  every  particular  with  those  of  the 
first. 

Addison  was  then  taken  aside,  w^hen  Eobert  made 
the  same  demand, 

"  I  cannot  be  forced  to  give  information  that  will 
damage  the  cause  of  my  country,  and  if  you  are  the 
brave  man  you  ought  to  be  to  command  such  an  un- 
dertaking, you  will  do  me  no  wrong  for  standing  by  my 
principles,"  said  Addison. 

"  Might  I  ask  what  your  principles  are  ? ' ' 

"You  can,  sir !  My  principles  as  a  soldier  are  the 
interests  of  the  Confederacy,"  replied  Addison. 

"  Yes,  and  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  Confed- 
eracy, you,  who  now  ask  life  at  my  hands,  would  sanc- 
tion the  imprisonment  of  an  aged  man ;  you  would 
hold  him  till  death  came  in  mercy  to  take  him  from 
your  cruel  grasp ;  you  would  forget  every  feeling  of 
boasted  love  for  that  old  man's  daughter  and  vaunted 
29* 


842  WaHREN  of  TEXAS. 

affection  for  that  old  man's  son  in  the  honr  of  their 
gi'eat  trouble,  and  crush  them  to  the  earth."  Robert 
was  going  on,  his  tone  becoming  more  excited,  but 
the  prisoner  stopped  him,  exclaiming  in  great  agita- 
tion: 

•* Gracious  Heaven,  who  are  you?'* 

"  I  am  Robert  Warren,  of  Gonzelletta.  If  you  doubt 
me,  I  can  place  your  finger  in  the  bullet-mark  of  your 
cowardly  assassins.  Yes,  Mr.  Addison,  I  can  show 
you  the  fragments  of  the  flag  which  you  tore  down 
from  the  court-house  at  Brazoria,  and  which  I  am 
bearing  back.  I  have  a  hundred  burning  evidences 
in  my  heart  of  such  as  you  and  your  principles.  Let 
me  hear  no  more  of  them  from  you — I  might  be 
tempted  to  degi*ade  myself  with  your  blood." 

*'  For  God's  sake,  shoot  me,  Robert  Warren,  but  do 
not  talk  in  that  strain.  Many  things  in  the  past  I 
would  change,  but  as  God  is  my  judge  I  was  influenced 
by  honest  motives.  I  regi*et  your  father's  death,  and 
the  loss  of  your  property,  but  it  was  not  my  fault." 

"What,  my  property  gone?  Why,  this  is  a  fresh 
blow.  I  suppose  my  mother  and  sister  are  homeless, 
and  -11  that  your  principles  may  triumph."  Robert 
walked  away,  for  he  was  too  much  excited  to  speak 
longer  with  the  prisoner.  He  had  learned  before  of 
the  southern  confiscation  act,  and  this  intelligence 
but  confirmed  his  fears. 

This  was  no  time  to  think  of  self.  Wharton  was 
near  by,  with  but  few  men  near  him.  To  capture  or 
kill  hhn  would  be  to  render  the  country  a  signal  ser- 
vice. He  certainly  had  papers  o^  value  on  his  per- 
son.    Robert  determinea  to  enter  the  iion's  der. 

"  Aleck  Cameron,  you,  Ned,  Dawn,  and  Archy  must 


NOCTURNAL  VISITORS.  843 

stay  back  here  and  keep  good  watch  over  the  prison- 
ers ;  I  will  return  inside  of  three  hours.  Light  no  fires 
and  if  the  prisoners  attempt  to  escape  shoot  them  down 
at  once." 

"  Hoot,  captain,  they  *re  nae  sa  daft  as  to  tempt  this 
chiel  wie  'scapin'.  Ye  '11  fine  us  as  safe  as  Ailsie  Craig 
gin  ye  come  back,"  said  Aleck,  as  he  made  fast  his 
horse  and  took  off  the  bridle. 

Giving  Aleck  a  few  whispered  instructions  as  to 
what  he  should  do  in  case  they  did  not  return,  Kobert 
with  the  remainder  of  his  men  mounted  and  retraced 
their  steps  toward  the  doctor's  plantation.  Riding 
past  it  about  a  mile,  they  discovered,  back  from  the 
road  about  two  hundred  yards,  a  large  house,  which 
Eobert  judged  rightly  was  the  place  where  Colonel 
Wharton  was  billeted  for  the  night.  Turning  into  a 
lane  some  distance  before  reaching  the  house,  he  dis- 
mounted the  men,  and  ordering  them  to  stand  by  their 
horses,  he  and  Gaines  walked  cautiously  back  to  the 
end  of  the  lane,  which  terminated  in  an  inclosure 
surrounded  by  those  adjuncts  to  every  southern  plan- 
tation, viz.,  negro  quarters.  They  aroused  the  occu- 
pants of  the  nearest  hut  without  any  alarm,  for  a  negro 
soon  made  his  appearance  at  the  door,  and  asked  what 
the  gentlemen  wanted. 

"  Uncle,  can  you  tell  me  who  lives  here  ?  "  asked 
Robert  of  the  black  man,  who,  half  awake,  was  en- 
deavoring to  fasten  his  braces. 

"  Mauss  King  libs  heah,  sah,"  said  the  black  man, 
giving  his  pants  an  adjusting  hitch. 

"  Are  there  any  strangers  in  the  house  to-night, 
uncle?" 

"  Strangers  ! "  ejaculated  the  ne^^'o,  ''  'Fore  heaben, 


344  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

mausser,  dar  's  iiothin'  else.  Over  dar,  'bout  de  galry, 
reckon  dar's  mor'n  a  hunderd.     Com'd  from  Texas." 

"  Do  you  know  the  names  of  any  of  them?"  asked 
Robert. 

"  'Deed  I  does  n't,  mausser,  but  my  ole  woman 
knows — she  cooks  up  at  de  house." 

"Don't  make  a  noise,  but  tell  her  I  want  to  see 
her,"  said  Robert,  who  became  a  little  alarmed  at  the 
barking  of  a  half  dozen  curs,  such  as  are  always  to  be 
found  around  negro  quarters. 

*'Hush  these  dogs,  uncle,  quick.  Here's  five  dol- 
lars. That 's  right.  This  is  your  wife?"  said  Robert 
as  a  stout-looking  negro  woman  came  to  the  door. 

"  Why,  bress  de  Lor,  who  is  yeh  't any  rate?"  said 
the  woman  in  surprise. 

"Hush,  aunty — don't  be  frightened — I  am  a 
Yankee." 

*'  You '  s  a  Yankee  ?  '  Clar  to  heaben,  yeh  skeer  me,** 
said  the  black  woman  in  a  tone  that  showed  she  was 
certainly  astonished. 

*'  Yes,  aunty,  and  in  a  short  time  we  are  coming  to 
set  you  all  free.  Now  tell  me,  are  there  any  soldiers 
over  at  the  house  ?  " 

The  woman  seemed  to  be  convinced  of  Robert's 
character  by  his  earnest,  hurried  tone,  and  lowering 
her  voice  into  a  whisper,  she  puffed  out  as  if  the  sup- 
pression of  her  natural  tones  gave  her  shortness  of 
breath : 

"  Dar 's  right  smart  sojers  oberdar,  shuah,"  pointing 
to  the  house.  "  Fust  two  com'd  ;  one  mauss  called 
kernul  an  de  udder  boss,  or  caupling,  or  like  dat.  Den 
arter  supper  mor  'n  fifty  com'd,  and  fas'en'd  dar  bosses 
in  de  yar'.     Dey  's  a  sieepin'  on  de  galry.     I  knows 


EPISTOLARY  COMPLIMENTS.  845 

dar  's  a  heap  on  'em,  kase  I  cooked  for  'em,  an'  0  Loi-* ! 
but  dey  was  hungry.  Jest  kep'  us  a  totin'  coifee  an' 
bacon  an'  dodgers  till  I  thought  dey  neber  would  stop." 

"  That  is  all  right,  aunty — here  is  some  money  for 
you.  Now  tell  me  where  T  can  find  the  horses — and 
you,  uncle,  come  with  me.  But,  stop,"  said  Eobert, 
as  if  a  new  thought  struck  him,  "aunty,  do  you  know 
where  the  man  they  called  'colonel'  sleeps,  and 
where  his  saddle  and  saddle-bags  are?" 

*'  Yas,  I  does,  mauss,  but  if  yer  a  Yank  keep  clar. 
I  tell  yell  dey  've  heaps  o'  guns." 

•'  I  know,  aunty,  but  I  am  fighting  for  the  colored 
people  and  the  Union,  and  the  colored  people  should 
help  me.  There  are  too  many  men  over  there  for  me 
to  attack,  but  I  must  have  the  colonel's  saddle  and 
saddle-bags,  even  if  I  get  shot  trying.  Now  some  of 
your  people  know  where  they  are.  I  will  give  one 
hundred  dollars  for  them." 

*'  I  reckon  Steve  kin  git  'em.  Bob,  call  Steve,"  said 
the  black  woman,  addressing  her  husband. 

The  man  left  and  returned  in  a  few  minutes  with  a 
black  boy,  to  whom  Kobert  expressed  his  wishes. 
Steve  announced  his  willingness  to  get  the  desired 
articles,  for  the  temptation  was  very  great  in  a  mon- 
etary point  of  view.  Entering  the  cabin  and  closing 
the  door,  Robert  asked  the  man  to  rake  up  the  coals ; 
then  taking  a  blank  book  from  his  pocket  he  wrote  : 

"Colonel  Wharton:  To-night  I  came  close 
enough  to  have  shot  you,  but  it  would  have  been  very 
mean  to  change  your  mode  of  sleeping.  I  will 
borrow  your  horse  and  equipments,  and  when  you 
come  for  them  I  promise  you  a  warm  reception.  In- 
deed, if  you  had  not  been  in  such  good  company  I 


846  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

would  have  insisted  on  taking  you  with  me  to-night. 
I  can  only  make  this  clear  by  signing  myself, 
"Hastily  yours,         Robert  Warren, 

"  Captain  U.  S.  Vols:* 

"  Steve,  are  Wharton's  saddle-bags  in  his  room  ?" 

"  No,  mauss  ;  dey  's  in  de  hall,"  said  Steve. 

*'  Very  well.    Who  takes  him  coffee  in  the  morning  ?" 

*'  Bet  does,  sah." 

"  Now,  Steve,  give  this  to  Bet,  with  this  five-dollar 
bill,  and  tell  her  to  leave  the  note  on  Wharton's  dress- 
ing stand." 

"  I  will,  sah,  shuah,"  said  Steve. 

•*Now  be  quick,  and  bring  me  the  saddle  and  sad- 
dle-bags. Make  two  trips.  Lay  them  at  the  door 
if  I  am  not  here  when  you  come  back.  And,  Steve, 
bring  the  colonel's  sword  if  you  can.  I  will  pay  extra 
for  that."  Steve  agreed  to  this  ;  indeed  he  felt  in  the 
humor  for  stealing,  and  appeared  to  appreciate  the 
whole  affair.     . 

While  Steve  went  to  the  house,  Robert  sent  the 
man  for  Wharton's  horse,  and  he  and  Gaines  made 
quick  work  cutting  the  halters  of  the  animals  fastened 
around  the  yard,  and  rendering  useless  the  saddles 
that  were  straddled  about  on  the  fence. 

They  got  back  and  found  Wharton's  horse  saddled 
at  the  door. 

* '  Now,  Graines,  get  back  and  mount  yourself  and 
the  men." 

Gaines  hurried  back  with  a  soft,  quick  step,  and 
Robert  adjusted  the  saddle  and  strapped  to  the  pum- 
mel the  colonel's  sword.  Assuring  himself  that  all 
the  equipments  were  right,  he  vaulted  into  the  saddle 
and  started  down  the  lane.    He  had  to  pass  nearer  to 


THE  ALARM.  847 

the  house  than  the  cabins  were,  and  the  horse  seemed 
opposed  to  leaving  his  companions,  for  he  gave  a  neigh 
when  near  the  house  that  sounded  like  a  locomotive 
whistle.  The  noise  awoke  some  of  the  Eangers,  for 
one  jumped  up  and  shouted  : 
"  Who  goes  thar?" 

'*  Friends,"  came  the  answer  in  a  strong  voice,  as 
Robert  walked  his  horse  down  the  lane. 
*'  What's  yer  name?"  asked  the  Eanger. 
"Addison,"  said  the  rider. 

* '  Come  back,  lieutenant.  The  colonel  sent  for  yeh. 
He 's  mad  as  blazes.     Come  back." 

Still  the  horseman  kept  on,  and  the  neighing  of  his 
horse  was  answered  by  the  sympathetic  neighing  of 
the  horses  of  the  scouts. 

"By  hell,  boys,  that  ain't  Addison.  Yanks! 
Yanks  !  Yanks !"  rang  from  a  score  of  voices,  and  the 
Rangers  sprang  for  their  arms,  and  fired  at  random 
in  the  direction  of  the  scouts. 

"  Get  your  horses,"  shouted  Wharton  from  an  upper 
window.  "Quick,  men!"  Lights  flashed  through 
the  house,  shouts  and  orders  rang  out  in  wild  confu- 
sion, which  was  increased  by  the  galloping  of  the 
loosened  and  now  stampeded  animals. 

They  were  too  late.  Back  toward  the  swamp  the 
scouts  galloped,  Don  keeping  close  to  Robert's  fresh 
horse,  his  fine  ears  laid  back  as  at  times  he  jealously 
snapped  at  Wharton's  charger. 

Little  Ned  was  on  the  road  near  the  place  where 
the  prirsoners  were  concealed,  and  prevented  the  scouts 
riding  past  in  the  darkne.ss. 

''Rest  your  horses  here  a  few  minutes,  men,"  said 
Robert,  as  he  dismounted  and  hurried  into  the  swamp. 


348  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"  Saddle  up  here.  Come,  prisoners,  mount."  In 
ten  minutes  all  were  again  on  the  road,  the  prisoners 
closely  guarded,  and  the  sound  of  the  pursuing  horse- 
men coming  up  the  road. 

"  T  say,  Cap.,"  said  Tennessee,  riding  close  to  Rob- 
ert when  they  were  again  on  the  road,  *'  we  could  lick 
thunder  out  of  them  fellers  wat  's  chasin'  us,  if  ye  'd 
only  give  us  a  chance.  Dogon'd  if  I  ain't  halfspilin' 
fur  a  fight." 

"  I  should  like  to  give  them  a  brash,  Tennessee,  but 
we  must  run  no  risks.  Some  other  time  we  can  afford 
to  stand.' ' 

Tennessee  acquiesced,  though  he  muttered  at  times, 
as  he  restrained  Wharton's  horse,  on  which  he  was  now 
mounted,  "  Dogon'd  if  I  ain't  jest  shuah  we  could 
rile  them  fellers  awful." 

Gradually  the  sounds  of  the  Rangers  behind  were 
lost,  and  till  daylight  the  scouts  kept  on,  when  they 
were  well  beyond  the  danger  of  immediate  pursuit. 
They  halted  near  a  small  plantation,  where  they  had 
the  horses  fed  and  procured  a  breakfast  for  the  men. 

The  prisoners  were  not  well  mounted,  and  Robert 
deemed  it  imprudent  to  attempt  taking  them  thiough. 
When  he  was  again  ready  to  start,  he  called  thdm  to- 
gether, and,  addressing  Addison,  he  told  him  hd  would 
let  him  and  his  companions  return  with  their  animals. 
He  would  not  impose  a  parole  he  did  not  expect  them 
to  keep,  so  he  would  not  be  astonished  to  meet  them 
in  arms  soon  again. 

Addison  was  depressed  and  gloomy,  and  in  parting 
said :  '*  Robert  Wan-en,  you  will  find  some  day  I  am 
not  so  bad  as  you  think." 

Then  the  scouts  turned  north,  and  with  their  jaded 
animals  the  Texans  rode  slowly  south. 


CHAPTER   XXXI, 


DISASTERS. 

The  spring  of  '62  was  most  disastrous  to  the 
Confederates,  and  many  of  the  southern  people  felt 
the  war  was  nearing  an  end.  On  the  eastern  coast 
the  Federal  troops  were  successful.  In  Virginia,  un- 
der an  idolized  general  the  grandest  army  ever  seen 
on  the  American  continent,  confident  of  victory,  was 
marching  upon  Richmond.  In  Kentucky  and  Ten- 
nessee the  Confederates  lost  ground  in  every  battle, 
and  beyond  the  Mississippi  the  hordes  of  Price  and 
Van  Dorn  were  driven  into  Arkansas  and  beaten  to 
pieces  on  their  chosen  battle  grounds.  Already  the 
shouts  of  victory  rang  through  the  North,  and  the 
advocates  of  Union  exulted  in  the  approaching  close 
of  the  war.  How  wonderfully  all  changed.  One 
week  in  June  saw  the  boasted  Army  of  the  Potomac 
a  broken,  disorganized  mob,  fleeing  from  an  attack  on 
the  Confederate  capital  to  the  defense  of  its  own 
The  same  time  saw- Price's  late  army  pushing  tri- 
umphantly into  Missouri,  with  a  rabble  fleeing  before 
it;  while  the  lately-routed  Bragg,  at  the  head  of 
seventy  thousand  men,  ignoring  Grant  at  Corinth  and 
luka,  pushed  boldly  into  Kentucky,  boasting  that  he 
would  not  rest  till  his  horses  watered  in  the  broad 
Ohio — and  he  made  that  boast  good.  In  vain,  on 
nearly  parallel  roads,  did  Buell  struggle  on  to  head 
30 


350  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

him  off.  Kentucky,  with  her  rich  harvests,  her  splen- 
did stock,  and  abundance  of  men,  com'ted  the  rebel 
approach,  and  welcomed  the  invasion  with  shouts  of 
joy  and  an  open  hospitality.  The  clouds  hung  black 
over  the  land  in  that  ten'ible  summer  of  '02. 

Warren  with  his  scouts  accompanied  Buell's  army 
north,  though  all  had  lost  that  fire  which  rendered  no 
labor  tiresome  as  they  pushed  south.  By  September 
the  Union  Army  under  Buell  was  back  in  Kentucky. 
There  they  found  Kirby  Smith  and  John  Morgan  rid- 
ing rough-shod  through  the  State,  and  the  stronghold 
of  Cumberland  Gap  given  up  to  the  foe.  Small  gar- 
risons of  Union  troops  were  left  unprotected  through 
the  State,  and  one  by  one  they  surrendered  to  the 
enemy.  That  was  a  fearful  race  between  Buell  and 
Bragg.  The  dust  from  the  hostile  columns  could  be 
seen  daily,  and  at  night  the  camp-fires  were  visible 
from  each  line.  Day  by  day  the  race  continued.  The 
Union  troops  begged  to  be  led  against  the  rebels,  but, 
for  reasons  best  known  to  himself,  Buell  avoided  the 
possibility  of  battle.  Discontent  and  disappointment 
pervaded  the  Union  ranks.  The  men  cursed  the 
commanding  general  openly,  and  stories  were  circu- 
lated that  Buell  and  Bragg  were  brothers-in-law,  and 
that  they  often  met  between  the  lines  and  slept  to- 
gether. Of  course  there  was  no  truth  in  this,  but  it 
served  to  show  the  feeling  of  distrust  and  spirit  of 
disaffection  among  the  men,  and  the  reasons  they 
found  to  account  for  Buell's  apparent  indifierence. 

There  was  a  feeling  of  relief,  not  only  in  the  Union 
Army,  but  throughout  the  nation,  when  Buell  entered 
Louisville,  though  pursued  by  Bragg's  cavalry.  The 
Kentuckians  who  sided  with  the  South  were  not  ui>- 


THE  NORTH  TO  THE  RESCUE.  861 

selfish  in  their  devotion  to  the  Confederacy,  and  they 
shrank  from  the  terms  of  Bragg's  proclamation,  which 
called  on  the  young  men  of  the  State  to  join  his  army 
in  order  to  avoid  conscription.  At  the  same  time  he 
made  Confederate  money  a  legal  tender  for  all  pur- 
chases, and  confiscated  v/ith  barbarous  injustice  the 
movable  property  of  all  Union  men.  The  rebel  cit- 
izens  of  Kentucky  were  only  reconciled  to  this  state 
of  affairs  by  the  belief  that  the  Confederate  troops 
were  a  fixture  for  the  war,  and  that  they  had  seen 
the  last  of  the  Yankees.  Indeed,  so  confident  were 
they  of  the  permanency  of  southern  rule  that  they 
determined  to  inaugurate  a  governor  of  Bragg's  nam- 
ing, and  a  neat  old  man  named  Haws  was  found 
willing  to  accept  the  position. 

At  this  time  Lincoln's  call  for  more  men  went 
through  the  land,  and,  like  the  call  of  Roderick  Dhu, 
it  was  answered  as  if  the  earth  teemed  with  men, 
and  Louisville  speedily  became  a  grand  camp,  into 
which  poured  the  noblest  men  of  the  Northwest. 
Buell  was  preparing  to  turn  south  again  and  face  the 
rebels  with  his  increased  and  res^d  army.  A  few 
days  before  the  advance.  Captain  Kelton  sent  Bobert 
a  letter  which  he  informed  him  had  been  found  in 
Wharton's  saddle-bags,  and,  as  it  alluded  to  Warren, 
the  captain  doubted  not  it  would  be  of  interest. 

Robert  hastened  to  his  quarters  the  moment  he  re- 
ceived the  letter,  and  turning  to  the  superscription, 
he  read  the  name  of  "  William  Wallace  Grasting,  Con- 
federate States  Receiver."  He  dreaded  to  begin  the 
letter,  for  he  felt  it  contained  another  blow ;  but  it 
had  to  come  some  time,  so  he  read : 


352  WARREN  OF  TEX  AS. - 

*«  Brazoria,  April  1,  1862. 
"  Hon.  Jno.  "Wharton,  Col.  Eighth  Texas  Cavalry, 

{Gen.  A.  Sidney  Johnston's  Army.) 

•'  My 'Dear  Sir  :  You  will,  I  am  sure,  pardon  me  for 
troubling  you  at  this  time,  and  attribute  this  intrusion 
to  my  desu'e  to  keep  you  posted  on  public  matters  in 
this  State,  which  you  are  destined  to  govern,  as  I  feel 
confident  you  will  be  elected  as  soon  as  you  return. 
It  would  certainly  cheer  your  hours  of  trial  and  danger 
did  you  but  hear  the  unrestrained  and  well-deserved 
praise  lavished  on  you  by  all  the  people. 

'*  It  is  pleasant  to  know  that  the  disaffection  which 
at  one  time  threatened  the  integrity  of  "  the  Lone  Star 
State"  has  been  effectually  crushed  out,  and  a 
healthier  patriotic  feeling  persuades  all  classes. 

"You  no  doubt  remember  the  Warrens,  of  Gronzel- 
letta?  The  course  of  this  unfortunate  family  has 
given  us  no  small  degree  of  trouble.  After  the  death 
of  Robert  Warren,  senior,  it  was  my  principal  duty  to 
sell  his  property,  which  was  purchased  by  your  ardent 
admirer,  the  elder  Mr.  To^vnsend. 

"  Miss  Mary  Warren  foolishly  started  from  here,  to 
find  her  brother,  last  fall.  By  the  way,  I  am  given  to 
miderstand  that  he  escaped  drowning.  Let  us  hope  he 
is  to  meet  with  a  more  deserved  and  more  ignoble  fate. 
Miss  Warren  was  captured  in  Tennessee,  through  the 
vigilance  of  young  Townsend,  who  happened  to  be  at 
Nashville  as  she  attempted  to  pass  through.  This 
young  woman  was  imprisoned,  and  a  search  disclosed 
letters  on  her  person  of  great  importance  to  the  Con- 
federacy. One  of  these  letters,  written  by  Mrs. 
Boardraan,  was  forwarded  to  me.  It  showed  clearly 
her  character  and  sympathy  with  the  Yankees.    Act- 


A  CRUEL  BLOW.  353 

ing  on  the  evidence  therein  contained,  it  became  my 
duty  to  seize  and  sell  her  place,  which  was  purchased 
by  that  excellent  gentleman  and  mutual  friend  of  ours, 
Mr.  Church,  of  Matagorda.  It  is  said  that  Mrs.  Board 
man  and  her  family  have  gone  north.  Certain  it  is, 
they  have  added  to  the  harmony  of  the  community 
by  leaving  here. 

*'  These  measures  seem  harsh,  but  they  have  enabled 
us  non-combatants  to  eradicate  every  disloyal  ele- 
ment in  our  midst.  I  maintain  there  is  more  to  dread 
from  internal  discord  than  outside  strife. 

"  We  all  learned  with  pain  of  the  loss  of  the  gallant 
Terry,  but  rejoice  that  one  so  brave  as  Wharton  suc- 
ceeds him.  My  wife  has  your  name  ever  on  her  lips, 
and  has  written  a  poem  in  your  praise,  which  she  begs 
me  to  inclose.  We  are  daily  praying  that  God  may 
specially  guard  you  and  speedily  return  you  victories. 
An  honor  will  be  conferred  if  at  any  time  you  deign 
to  drop  a  line  to, 

*'  Yery  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

*'  William  Wallace  Gasting, 
"  Confederate  States  Receiver.' 

Robert  read  this  letter  over  hastily  with  a  throb- 
bing heart,  then  slowly,  as  if  he  had  misunderstood  it, 
and  doubted  the  evidence  of  his  own  senses.  Grad- 
ually he  saw  the  whole  terrible  truth,  and,  crushed 
'neath  the  blow,  he  dropped  his  head  in  his  hands  and 
groaned  in  very  agony.  While  he  sat,  bowed,  he  be- 
came conscious  of  another  presence  in  the  room,  and, 
lifting  up  his  ashy  face,  he  saw  Archy  looking  down 
on  him  with  an  expression  of  son'ow  and  pity. 

"  Wat 's  wrong,  Mauss  Eobut  ?  Nothin'  Ikin  do  fur 
yeh?" 

30* 


354  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"Nothing,  nothing,  Archy.  Gracious  Heaven,  1 
feel  as  if  my  heart  would  break  ! " 

Then  he  read  and  explained  Gasting's  letter  to 
Archy. 

*'  De  Lor  '11  watch  ober  all,  Mauss  Robut.  Poor 
Susey  an'  de  pickaninnies  !  I  s'pose  ole  Townsend  's 
got  dem  too.  Don't  trubble,  don't  trubble,  poor 
mauss."  And  as  Archy  spoke  he  staggered  to  a  seat, 
and  sobbed  like  a  child  as  he  repeated,  "Please 
do  n't  trubble,  Mauss  Robut.  De  Lor'  will  w^atch  ober 
all.  Poor  Susey  an'  de  pickaninnies  !  0  Lor',  what  '11 
dey  do  now?    Dat  's  what  'noys  me." 

For  several  minutes  both  men  sat,  struck  down  with 
grief.     Robert  was  the  first  to  recover. 

*'  There,  Archy,  my  poor  boy,  look  up.  It  is  not 
right  for  us  to  give  w'ay  in  this  manner.  That's  right, 
do  n't  cry  any  more.  Go  for  Gaines.  Poor  fellow,  they 
don't  mention  his  wife,  but  I  suppose  she  is  a  sufiferer 
too." 

Archy  rose,  uttering  between  his  sobs  words  of  con- 
solation to  Robert,  his  fears  for  Susey  and  the  little 
ones,  and  his  confidence  that  the  Lord  would  see 
everything  made  right. 

Gaines,  learning  that  Robert  wanted  him,  and  read- 
ing trouble  in  Archy's  face,  hurried  at  once  to  his 
captain's  quarters.  He  read  Gasting's  letter,  and 
heard  Robert's  comments;  then  he  said  slowly,  with- 
out raising  his  eyes  from  the  ground  : 

"  Robert,  the  night  we  left  Brazoria  I  made  up 
my  mind  that  home,  life,  and  w^hat  is  still  dearer  to 
me,  my  wife  and  little  one,  with  my  old  mother,  were 
to  be  given  up.  To  hear  of  the  loss  of  any  of  these, 
excepting  of  course  the  improbability  of  hearing  of  my 


SETTING  UP  A  GOVERNOR.  355 

own  death,  would  pain,  but  it  would  not  surprise  me. 
I  was  not,  and  am  not  now  so  sanguine  as  you,  but  I 
have  a  duty  to  perform,  and,  come  what  may,  I  will 
press  on  to  the  end,  Vvhether  we  are  successful  or  not." 

"God  bless  you,  old  friend  !  I  feel  as  you  do,  but 
this  blow  came  so  suddenly  that  for  the  time  it  un- 
manned me.  Henceforth,  I  promise  you  that  no  ca- 
lamity will  deter  me." 

Robert  seized  Gaines's  hand  as  he  spoke,  and  the 
friends  knew  each  other  better. 

October  3  was  the  day  set  apart  for  the  inauguration 
of  Governor  Haws,  Bragg's  selection  for  governor. 
At  Frankfort,  Bragg  and  Buckner,  Morgan  and  Smith, 
Cheatham  and  Heath,  with  their  staffs  and  body  guards, 
were  present.  Kentucky's  bravest  sons  and  fairest 
daughters  had  assembled  to  prepare  a  banquet  befit- 
ting the  splendid  occasion  of  the  inauguration.  Trium- 
phal arches,  portals  wreathed,  and  streets  crossed  with 
barred  flags  gave  a  festive  appearance  to  the  flat,  se- 
cluded streets  of  Kentucky's  capital.  On  the  hills 
that  overshadow  the  little  town  artillery  was  stationed 
to  thunder  out  a  salute  to  the  State-rights  goveraor 
the  moment  he  became  invested  with  power.  Bouquets 
were  prepared  at  the  State  House  and  hotels,  and  pri- 
vate residences  were  thrown  open  to  the  victorious 
southern  soldiers.  Frankfort  was  full  of  life,  flowers, 
and  gay  uniforms.  Music  and  incense  intoxicated 
the  vast  assemblage  like  the  host  that  gathered  at  the 
board  of  the  Babylonian  king,  and  everything  denoted 
permanency  to  the  new  governor  and  his  cause. 

The  Union  troops  were  advancing,  and  on  October 
the  2d  Captain  Bobert  Warren  received  an  order  to 
march  in  the  direction  of  Frankfort,  distant  thirty 


856  WAKREN  OF  TEXAS. 

m'.les,  and  feel  or  ascertain  the  enemy's  force.  Thej 
advanced  that  evening  within  six  miles  of  Frankfort, 
and  were  astonished  at  finding  no  vedettes  nor  out- 
posts of  any  kind.  The  captain  wisely  went  into 
camp  for  the  night,  sending  old  Dawn,  Aleck  Cameron, 
and  Tennessee  into  the  town  to  ascertain  the  state  of 
affairs.  It  is  not  a  difficult  job  for  a  good  scout  to 
pass  lines  that  are  well  guarded ;  it  was  particularly 
easy  for  the  three  men  to  enter  the  unpicketed  tovm. 
About  midnight  the  scout  returned,  reporting  the  town 
in  charge  of  a  small  provost  guard,  while  the  most 
ample  preparations  were  being  made  by  the  citizens 
for  the  reception  of  the  Confederate  generals  and  the 
inauguration  of  the  governor. 

Tennessee  went  into  raptures  over  the  grand  feed 
that  was  being  prepared  in  town. 

"  Why,  Cap.,  Archy  ain't  no  whar.  He  can 't begin 
to  get  up  a  shadder  like  the  grub  I  saw.  By  the  ghost 
of  old  Andrew,  Cap.,  if  we  'uns  could  get  in  thar 
it  'ed  be  the  healthiest  joke.  Would  n't  we  make  the 
provender  fly  !  Wall,  now,  I  reckon  not,"  and  Ten- 
nessee smacked  his  lips  and  laughed  with  boyish  de- 
light at  the  idea  he  had  suggested,  but  which  had 
already  been  matured  in  the  mind  of  the  captain. 

Robert  smiled,  for  even  the  quiet  Aleck  Cameron 
was  excited,  and  the  old  light  came  back  to  his  sad 
eyes  as  he  looked  around  on  his  devoted  men,  and  felt 
that  his  sufferings  would  not  go  unavenged. 

Archy,  who  had  overheard  Tennessee's  criticism  on 
his  cooking,  felt  a  little  nettled  at  the  bare  suggestion 
of  being  excelled,  even  by  the  people  of  Frankfort, 
and  he  showed  it  by  saying : 

"  Mauss  Robut,  dis  chile  ain*t  agwine  to  sleep  any 


"»RAH  FOR  MAWGIN!"  357 

more  dis  blessed  night.  An'  if  Mauss  Tennesse  ain't 
jest  a  foolin'  bout  dem  tings  in  Frankfort,  why  I 
reckon  no  one  won't  want  no  breakfus'  in  de  mornin'." 
Archy  had  them,  in  his  own  opinion,  and  the  cap- 
tain said : 

"  Oh,  Archy,  I  must  have  a  cup  of  coffee,  at  any 
rate.  You  see,  v>^e  are  not  certain  about  that  big  din- 
ner. We  are  not  expected,  and  after  looking  at  the 
place  I  might  be  inclined  to  think  it  wrong  to  disturb 
the  people." 

"  Gosh,  dat  's  so.  It  might  n't  be  healthy  like,  but 
if  it 's  only  healthy  to  go  thar,  oh,  Susey  !  it '  ed  jes' 
be  nice." 

Tennessee  took  a  heavy  chew  of  tobacco,  and  inti- 
mated that  it  would  be  safe  to  bet  a  man's  bottom 
dollar  on  the  niceness  of  the  affair,  quoting  Archy  in 
conclusion,  *'  If  it 's  only  healthy.  That  'ar  's  the  pint 
in  my  mind." 

Before  day  the  scouts  were  in  the  saddle,  and  by 
sunrise  they  had  crossed  to  the  Lawrenceburg  pike 
"When  within  three  miles  of  the  city  they  came  upon  a 
drunken  Confederate  soldier  lying  in  a  fence  comer. 
One  of  the  men  dismounted  and  shook  him  up. 

"Hallo!  relief  come,  eh?  Damn  glad;  got  so 
tired  waitin'."  Here  the  soldier  showed  a  disposi- 
tion to  get  down  on  his  hands  and  knees  and  search 
for  something.  He  was  stopped  in  his  efforts,  when, 
i^ith  a  groan  of  sorrow,  he  said : 

"Sure  's  hell,  some  skunk's  stole  that  ar'  canteen. 
Whoever  the  onory  cuss  was,  he  jes'  went  through  some 
of  the  bes'  Bourbon.  Bully  for  sight ;  jes*  can't  see  a 
Yank  with  that  stuff  inside.     'Eah  for  Mawgin." 

"Wake   up,  ole  fel,   an'    salute    yer    nat'ral-born 


358  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

frien's,"  said  Tennessee,  shaking  the  drunken  man, 
who  showed  symptoms  in  his  lower  limbs  of  collapsing. 

The  Confederate  rubbed  his  eyes  as  if  awaking  from 
a  sleep,  and,  spreading  out  his  legs  to  support  him- 
self, he  seized  a  rail  to  make  his  position  more  secure, 
and,  evidently  sobered,  he  drew  a  long  breath,  and  with 
a  sudden  explosion  he  said : 

"  I  swar  to  Heaven,  T  believe  I  'm  bagged." 

*'  For  a  man  that  ain't  descended  from  the  prophets 
you  have  made  a  most  truthful  surmise,"  said  Aleck 
Cameron  in  his  broad  Scotch  accent,  while  his  gray 
eyes  were  glancing  around  for  the  missing  canteen. 

"  What  regiment  do  you  belong  to  ? "  asked  the 
captain. 

*'  Scott's  Cavalry,  a-fightin'  for  the  sunny  South,  by 
thunder  !  "  said  the  prisoner,  with  a  somewhat  defiant 
and  surly  tone. 

"Where  is  your  command?'* 

"Dunno,"  replied  the  prisoner;  "but  T  reckon 
they're  out  Yank  huntin'.  The  boys  is  spilin'  for  a 
fight." 

Some  of  the  men  laughed  at  this  remark,  when  the 
prisoner  added : 

"Wall,  if  you  Yanks  don't  b'lieve  I'm  tellin*  the 
truth,  jes'  hunt  up  Scott's  Cavalry  an'  ask  'em." 

There  was  nothing  to  be  made  out  of  this  fellow, 
so  Warren  pushed  still  closer  to  Frankfort.  The 
forenoon  was  occupied  in  examining  carefully  the 
valley  in  which  the  town  of  Frankfort  is  situated. 
Strange  as  it  may  seem,  there  was  not  a  soldier  in 
sight,  and  nearly  all  the  white  people  had  crowded 
into  the  town.  On  the  hill  overlooking  the  town,  west 
from  the  Louisville  pike,  the  scouts  were  drawn  up  in 


FRANKFORT  RECAPTURED.  359 

full  view  of  the  crowds  below.  Their  advent  evi- 
dently created  alarm,  for  up  the  opposite  hill,  in  the 
direction  of  Lexington,  carriages  and  mounted  men 
were  seen  to  pour  in  wild  haste.  They  evidently  con- 
sidered the  cavalry  the  advance  of  the  Union  Army. 
A  few  pieces  of  artillery,  intended  to  fire  salutes,  be- 
gan to  fire  in  the  direction  of  the  scouts,  and  this  in 
an  instant  decided  Captain  Warren.  Sending  Graines 
down  the  hill,  with  directions  to  charge  into  the  town, 
in  the  direction  of  the  court-house,  the  captain  with 
the  remainder  of  the  men  rode  into  the  valley  from 
the  right,  and  crossing  the  bridge  a  minute  after 
Gaines,  the  bugle  sounded  the  charge,  and  the  colors 
were  unfurled.  Down  through  the  streets,  past  crowds 
of  pale,  frightened  people,  and  by  houses  decked  with 
flowers,  and  under  canopies  of  rebel  flags  the  Union 
cavalry  dashed.  There  was  a  short  resistance  near 
the  State  House,  but  the  rebels  showed  no  disposition 
to  fight  in  the  crowded  town.  Almost  as  quickly  as 
it  takes  to  tell  it,  the  streets  were  deserted  save  by 
the  scouts  and  a  few  drunken  soldiers,  who  could  not 
join  in  the  retreat.  The  captain  did  not  like  to  show 
his  full  force  by  pursuing.  He  had  not  been  in  town 
ten  minutes  before  the  old  flag  floated  from  the  State 
House  ;  and  over  many  of  the  buildings  that  a  short 
time  before  floated  the  stars  and  bars  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  were  waving.  So  quickly  men  change.  There 
was  feasting  in  Frankfort  that  day,  and  in  many  hearts 
besides  those  of  Warren  and  his  men  there  was  rejoic- 
ing, too.  Though  the  smiles  of  misled  beauty  did 
not  beam  on  the  banquet  board,  their  absence  did  not 
detract  from  the  relish  with  which  the  governor's  din- 
ner was  eaten. 


S60  \VARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

There  were  laughter  and  jesc  at  the  table  and  loud 
praise  of  the  immortal  cooks.  Archy  was  ordered  to 
hide  his  diminished  head  forever,  which  he  proceeded 
to  do  in  a  huge  veal  pie.  Tennessee  and  his  brother, 
little  Ned,  who  was  always  near  him,  ate  with  aston- 
ishing relish  and  energy. 

"Boys,"  said  the  former,  with  his  mouth  filled  with 
roast  beef  and  jelly,  "  lay  in  enough  for  the  campaign, 
for  if  yeh  do  n't  eat  enough  now,  mark  my  words 
you  '11  all  be  sorry  bimeby." 

This  prudent  advice  was  not  needed,  though  the 
men,  at  the  captain's  request,  abstained  from  the 
liquors,  which  they  found  in  abundance.  This  was  a 
piece  of  self-denial  which  only  an  old  soldier  can 
appreciate. 

That  afternoon,  with  wreaths  around  their  horses* 
necks  and  a  score  of  rebel  flags  trailing  behind  them, 
the  scouts  fell  back  to  the  hill  and  left  Frankfort  to 
ponder  over  its  short-lived  glory. 


JHAPTER  XXXII 


TRIALS   OF    THE    CAMPAIGN. 

The  day  after  the  flight  of  the  Confederate  gover- 
nor from  Frankfort,  the  town  was  occupied  by  a  brig- 
ade of  Union  infantry,  and  Captain  Robert  Warren  re- 
ceived orders  to  report  to  Greneral  Jackson,  who  was 
advancing  from  the  direction  of  Bardstown. 

The  weather  was  intensely  hot,  and  the  roads  ankle 
deep  with  light  limestone  dust,  which  the  slightest 
agitation  raised  into  stifling  clouds,  that  covered  men 
and  horses,  and  in  many  cases  obstructed  the  vision 
beyond  the  rank  in  front.  To  add  to  the  difficulty  of 
moving  troops  in  Kentucky  at  this  time,  the  long-con- 
tinued drought  had  dried  up  the  springs,  and  the 
streams,  usually  so  abundant  in  that  State,  presented 
dry  beds,  with  here  and  there  a  stagnant  pool  of  green, 
animated  water.  This  campaign  tried  to  the  utmost 
the  powers  of  endurance  of  the  old  troops,  and  it  was 
particularly  hard  on  the  recruits  who  joined  Buell  at 
Louisville.  Many  of  those  men  had  not  been  six  days 
in  the  service  when  the  pursuit  of  Bragg  began.  It 
is  safe  to  say  that  the  men  who  entered  the  Army  in 
'62  were,  as  a  class,  the  best  men,  physically,  of 
the  war,  but,  like  all  green  soldiers,  they  began  the 
campaign  with  knapsacks  filled  like  a  peddler's  pack, 
and  with  as  useless  a  variety  of  articles.  Clothing, 
toilet  articles,  stationery,  books,  photographic  albums, 
31 


362  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

and,  ill  some  cases,  pillows  and  umbrellas,  constituted 
the  outfit  of  men  who  afterward  felt  equipped  with  a 
blanket,  a  coffee  cup,  and  a  section  of  shelter  tent. 
Add  to  the  great  load  of  these  personal  effects  the 
arms,  ammunition,  and  equipments  necessary  for  a 
soldier,  and  the  unmilitary  reader  will  have  some  idea 
of  the  loads  carried  by  the  majority  of  the  "'62"  re- 
cruits. Ten  pounds  carried  in  one  position  all  day, 
under  a  hot  sun,  becomes  very  heavy  toward  night. 
Sixty  pounds  becomes  a  very  incubus,  and  he  must  be 
a  determined  fellow  who  enters  camp  after  his  first 
march  of  twenty-five  miles  with  as  big  a  load  as  he 
had  when  he  started.  It  takes  time  to  acquire  the 
knack  of  marching  in  an  Army  shoe — the  most  com- 
fortable foot-covering  in  the  world,  by  the  way,  for  a 
long  tramp.  The  recruits  had  not  this  knack,  so  their 
feet  blistered,  their  agony  became  intense,  their  efforts 
to  keep  up  failed,  and  their  initiation  in  war  was  ter- 
rible ;  indeed,  more  so  than  the  first  thunder  of  op- 
posing cannon,  for  men  thought  only  about  fighting 
beforefore  leaving  home,  never  about  long  marches 
without  water  or  fo  d,  and  a  sleep  in  the  open  air.  It 
was  curious  to  notice  the  articles  that  strewed  the 
road  along  the  line  of  march.  At  first,  extra  boots, 
blankets,  books,  albums  with  the  valued  pictm-es  re- 
moved ;  sometimes  whole  knapsacks  cast  aside  in  dis- 
gust, and  shoes  thrown  off  from  blistered  feet ;  some- 
times, but  rarely,  cartridge-boxes  and  body-belts  could 
be  found  on  the  line  of  march,  and  the  articles  dropped 
could  be  accepted  as  a  fair  criterion  of  the  degree  of 
fatigue  of  the  owner. 

East  of  Bardstown,  Captain  Warren  reported  to 
General  Jackson,  who,  with  his  green  troops,  was  on 


THE  ROSE-WATER  POLICY.  363 

the  extreme  left  of  the  Union  advance.  Here  he  met 
his  cousin,  Allen,  now  a  major  on  the  general's  staff. 
They  had  been  parted  for  some  months,  and  they  had 
an  abundance  of  news  to  exchange.  Russell  was  acting 
then  as  an  aid  to  General  Polk,  whose  army  was  re- 
ported to  be  at  Harrodsburg.  General  Bragg,  Allen 
learned,  had  taken  the  best  stock  off  his  father's 
plantation,  despite  the  old  gentleman's  prot.  stations 
and  his  plea  that  he  had  a  son  in  the  Southern  army. 
The  secessionists  of  Kentucky  were  very  muct 
troubled  over  Bragg' s  retreat,  for  they  began  to  leani 
the  motives  that  brought  him  into  the  State,  viz., 
forage,  clothing,  and  recruits,  but  their  greatest  dre-ad 
was  the  retaliation  they  expected  from  the  Union 
Army.  Robert  regretted  to  find  that  his  cousin  en- 
tertained the  same  opinion  of  General  Buell  as  that 
held  by  the  men  in  the  ranks. 

"There  is  nothing  more  certain,"  said  the  major, 
"  than  that  it  is  now  in  our  power,  with  one  hundred 
thousand  well-armed  men  in  this  army,  to  prevent 
the  retreat  of  the  enemy,  and  to  completely  destroy 
him ;  but  I  am  satisfied  that  this  campaign  will  be  a 
miserable  failure." 

"  I  am  sorry  to  hear  you  talk  so,  for  men  have  no 
heart  in  a  v/ork  that  they  are  1  jd  to  believe  will  not 
be  successful,"  said  Robert. 

"You  misunderstand  me,  tousin.  Our  officers 
hardly  speak  their  fears  to  theii  most  intimate  friends, 
yet  you  can  absolutely  feel  the  spirit  of  dissatisfac. 
tion  when  among  the  men,"  said  Allen,  earnestly. 
Then,  after  a  pause,  he  continued :  "  It  is  about 
time  this  war  was  conducted  without  gloves.  I  must 
acknowledge  that  the  tendency  of  our  commanding 


S64      .  TTARREN"  OF  TEXAS. 

officer  to  conciliate  the  rebels  who  are  armed  against  us 
sickens  one.  While  Bragg  and  Morgan  are  stealing, 
or  rather  openly  taking  everything  that  may  be  of 
use  to  them  from  Union  men,  our  troops  are  half  the 
time  guarding  rebel  property,  and  during  this  cam- 
paign our  boys  have  suffered  for  water  while  their 
comrades  were  guarding  wells  within  sight  oii  rebel 
plaufcations." 

"  Allen,  I  can  appreciate  your  feelings  in  this  mat- 
ter," said  Robert.  "  I  remember  when  we  were  in 
Tennessee  last  spring,  the  general  issued  an  order 
against  burning  fence-rails.  Though  I  never  could 
blame  troops  if,  after  a  fatiguing  march,  they  pre- 
ferred dry  rails  to  green  wood  for  their  camp-fires. 
Of  course  the  order  was  a  dead  letter,  and  the  general 
modified  it  by  one  of  the  most  absurd  amendments — 
he  permitted  the  men  to  burn  the  top  rails  only.  Of 
course  there  was  always  a  top  rail,  and  while  the 
order  was  cheerfully  obeyed,  the  fences,  as  you  know, 
on  the  line  of  march  were  more  thoroughly  destroyed 
than  before  any  order  had  been  issued.  Some  lawyer 
on  the  general's  staff  pointed  out  the  weak  parts  in 
the  top-rail  order,  and  it  was  altered  in  a  way  that 
made  even  the  most  stupid  of  the  men  chuckle  with 
delight." 

"Oh,  yes  !  I  remember  that  last  order,"  said  Allen, 
"  it  was  that  the  troops  should  only  bum  those  rails 
they  found  broken  on  the  ground.  Why,  we  used  to 
break  rails  for  the  Seventh  Pennsylvania  Cavalry, 
and  they  kindly  did  the  same  thing  for  us.  We 
did  n't  suffer  for  broken  rails  found  on  the  ground. 
Why,  the  men  interpreted  that  order  so  fine,  after  a 
while,   that  one   man   would  do  the  breaking  while 


BEFORE  THE  BATTLE.  365 

another  carried  the  fragments  away.  If  the  whole 
affair  was  not  an  evidence  of  our  weakness,  it  would 
be  extremely  laughable. 

During  the  two  following  days  McCook's  corps, 
under  a  scorching  sun,  was  moved  rapidly  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  enemy,  who  had  his  main  rendezvous 
at  Camp  Breckinridge,  on  Dick  River.  This  was  the 
same  place  as  the  Union  "Camp  Dick  Kobinson,"  a 
few  miles  northeast  of  Danville.  On  the  evening  of 
the  7th,  Jackson's  division  reached  IMaxville^  a  little 
town  about  ten  miles  from  Harrodsburg,  and  on  the 
direct  road  to  that  place. 

During  the  day  there  had  been  a  good  deal  of 
skirmishing  between  the  cavalry  on  both  sides,  and 
Robert,  who  had  been  all  day  in  the  advance  of  the 
division,  felt  that  the  enemy  would  make  a  stand  on 
the  following  morning. 

General  Polk's  army,  it  was  ascertained,  held  Per- 
ryville  and  the  line  of  hills  to  the  east  and  north, 
which  covered  the  water  in  Chaplin  Creek.  McCook 
did  not  anticipate  a  severe  fight,  but  with  a  great 
deal  of  caution  he  formed  his  men  on  the  irregular, 
broken  hills,  west  of  the  rebel  position.  During  the 
night  Jackson  closed  up,  with  Rousseau  on  his  right, 
and  beyond  him  came  the  splendid  divisions  of 
Mitchell  and  Sheridan,  stretching  away  for  four  miles 
toward  the  miserable  little  village  o£  Perryville. 

Two  hours  before  day  the  moon  was  shining  with  a 
wonderful  brilliancy  on  the  dry  hills  and  shimmering 
on  the  stagnant  pools  in  the  creek,  on  which  the 
Union  troops  gazed  with  longing  eyes. 

Despite  the  fact  that  the  slopes  were  covered  with 
timber,  the  movements  of  the  advanced  troops  *^ 
SI* 


366  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

either  side  could  be  distinctly  seen — the  arms  of 
the  Tsatchful  pickets  gleaming,  and  the  long  rows  of 
steel  flashing  as  the  regiments  went  into  position. 

In  the  Union  Army  there  were  fifteen  thousand 
men  who  had  never  been  under  fire,  and  now,  after 
their  fearful  march,  they  stood  face  to  face  with  the 
foe,  waiting  with  thrilling  hearts  and  pale  faces  for 
the  battle  to  begin.  What  moments  of  anguish  and 
trial  those  preparations  for  battle  are  to  old  soldiers 
in  broad  daylight !  How  terribly  they  try  fresh 
troops  in  the  early  hours,  before  the  sun  has  risen, 
when  every  ravine  reminds  them  of  the  valley  of 
death,  and  mingling  thoughts  of  distant  homes  and 
present  dangers  unstring  the  strongest  nerves,  and 
for  the  time  unman  the  bravest  soldiers.  It  was  the 
first  time  the  Eighty-fifth  Illinois  was  ever  in  battle,  yet 
one  hour  before  day  they  advanced  on  the  skirmish 
line  close  up  to  the  enemy.  Down  the  Chaplin  valley 
and  up  the  opposite  hill,  now  lost  in  the  black  shadows, 
and  again  out  in  the  full  light  of  the  moon  they 
marched.  Suddenly,  as  if  a  volcano  had  opened  at 
their  feet,  the  rebel  artillery  belched  into  their  line, 
and  a  brigade  rose  from  the  shadows  and  poured  a 
murderous  volley  into  the  regiment,  which  still  pushed 
on.  Not,  however,  as  before,  with  regular  step  at 
skirmish  intervals,  but  closing  up  and  with  springing 
bounds  and  ringing  cheers  that  echoed  down  the  dry 
valley,  and  were  caught  up  by  Jackson's  untried  men. 
The  Eighty-fifth  with  leveled  bayonets  struck  the  en- 
emy and  drove  him  in  confusion  from  his  position. 
Under  the  protection  of  Barnett's  battery  the  heroic 
Illinoisans  held  their  position,  though  the  enemy  made 
several  desperate  efforts  to  recover  the  lost  ground 
before  daylight. 


THE  LINES  ENGAGED.  367 

In  the  meantime  the  enemy's  right  was  extended 
opposite  to  Jackson's  division,  and  the  booming  of 
artillery  and  the  unsteady  rattle  and  roll  of  musketry 
became  general  along  the  line.  About  7  a.  m. 
General  Gay,  Buell's  chief  of  cavalry,  who  had 
come  upon  the  ground,  ordered  Robert  "Warren's 
company  to  Rousseau's  right,  where  the  Second 
Missouri,  Second  Michigan,  and  Ninth  Pennsylva- 
nia cavalry  regiments  were  advanced  dismounted. 
Colonel  Campbell,  of  Michigan,  was  ordered  to  charge 
and  check  the  enemy,  who  had  crossed  the  Chaplin 
and  were  pushing  back  Mitchell's  left.  The  cavalry 
attacked  with  a  wonderful  elan,  but  before  the  heavy 
masses  of  the  enemy  they  were  hurled  back.  To  the 
rear  of  the  cavalry  Hotchkiss,  of  Minnesota,  quickly 
unlimbered  his  guns  and  checked  the  rebel  onset. 
Then  the  leveled  carbines  began  their  work;  and 
Pat  Colb urn's  crack  division  halted,  became  confused, 
turned,  and  then  in  the  wildest  confusion  ran  back, 
pursued  by  the  cavalry  up  the  hill,  who  captured  them 
by  scores  on  the  very  line  of  battle  from  which  they 
had  RO  confidently  advanced.  By  10  a.  m.  the  fire 
slackened  along  the  line,  and  the  enemy  appeared  to 
be  receiving  re- enforcements.  The  sun  shone  down 
with  a  hot,  coppery  glare  on  the  thirsting  lines  and 
parched  earth,  and  with  longing  eyes  from  opposite  hills 
the  rebels  and  Yankees  gazed  down  on  the  coveted 
water,  some  of  the  pools  already  filled  with  the  dead 
and  dying,  who  had  dragged  themselves  there  to  cool 
their  parched  lips.  Sheridan,  posted  on  a  command- 
ing hill,  received  the  next  attack,  Loomis  and  Simon- 
ton  with  tkeir  veteran  batteries  in  his  front.  The 
bill  seemed  one  pyramid  of  smoke  and  flame  as  the 


868  WARREN  OP  TEXAS. 

rebels  came,  and  the  dry  earth  seemed  turned  to 
clouds  of  dust,  which  enveloped  Sheridan  and  Hardee 
in  the  terrible  struggle.  The  rebel  batteries  worked 
with  awful  effect  upon  Sheridan's  lines,  and  for  one- 
half  hour  it  was  difficult  to  distinguish  the  contending 
lines.  Mitchell  and  Gilbert  closed  in  the  reserve,  and 
down  in  the  valley  about  the  stagnant  pools  the  battle 
was  waged,  friend  and  foe  stooping  to  drink  at  the 
same  moment,  then  leaping  together  to  the  encounter. 
Such  a  struggle  could  not  last  long.  It  was  beyond 
the  power  of  human  endurance,  and  after  one-half 
hour  the  panting  divisions  disentangled,  and  Sheridan 
slowly  fell  back  to  his  hill  of  fire,  while  Hardee  with- 
drew his  bleeding  column.  In  the  meantime  the 
thunder  of  battle  from  the  left  drowned  all  other 
sounds,  and  down  the  line  came  the  rumor  that  Jack- 
son was  being  overpowered.  Kobert  Warren  was  re- 
called to  the  left,  and  on  reaching  there  he  learned 
from  Allen,  who  was  wounded  in  the  arm,  that  the 
gallant  Jackson  was  dead.  The  rebels  had  gradually 
contracted  their  line,  abandoning  the  village  of  Perry- 
ville,  and  massed  in  overpowering  numbers  on  Jack- 
son's front.  This  they  could  more  easily  do  as  their 
front  was  densely  wooded.  Before  this  the  new  troops 
in  Jackson's  division  had  fought  with  a  valor  that 
would  have  shed  glory  on  the  veterans  of  Donelson, 
Pea  Ridge,  and  Shiloh,  who  fought  there.  Now  came 
the  hour  of  their  greatest  trial.  With  fiendish  yells, 
that  curdled  the  blood  in  the  heart  of  tlije  bravest,  the 
rebels  under  Greneral  Buckner  rushed  down  upon 
Jackson's  weakened  line.  The  cool  head  and  brave 
heart  of  the  nobler  leader  were  forever  gone.  Though 
in  that  hour  of  trial  Jackson  was  sorely  needed,  yet 


BROTHER  AGAINST  BROTHER.  361 

the  men  never  flinclied.    The  Tenth  Wisconsin,  though 
reduced  in  this  their  first  battle  nearly  one-half,  took 
the  brunt  of  the  charge,  and  was  literally  crumbled 
to  pieces  in  the  repeated  onsets.     Stone,  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  Parsons  and  Harris  worked  their  batteries 
as  men  never  worked  before,  but  all  in  vain  ;  the  rebels 
still  gained  ground.     Terrell   and  Webster  soon  fol- 
lowed Jackson ;  Parsons  was  captured,  the  One  Hun- 
dred  and    Fifth  Ohio,   Twenty-first   Wisconsin,   and 
Eightieth  Illinois  were  doubled  up  and  hurled  back 
before  the  mad  onset  of  Buckner.     The  rebel  Ken- 
tuckians  were  fighting,  and  on  that  part  of  the  line 
ihree    thousand   loyal    Kentuckians    opposed   them. 
Allen  Warren  did  not  leave  the  field,  though  he  car- 
ried his  arm  in  a  sling.     As  the  rebel  charge  swept 
round  the  extreme  left,  he  was  on  that  part  of  the  line 
with  his  cousin's  command,  all  dismounted.     Captain 
Warren  had  lost  nearly  half  his  men.     Tennessee  was 
wounded,   and   Aleck   Cameron,    the   brave,    shrewd 
Scotch  boy,  was  dead ;  Gaines  was  seen  to  fall  in  the 
midst  of  the  enemy,  and  only  a  few  of  the  old  scouts 
remained.     Fifty  men  were  gathered  on  the  left,  but 
they  were  heroes,  and  they  dashed  down  the  declivity 
near  Frazer's  barn  and  met  the  enemy.     In  the  ad- 
vance, brandishing  his  sword,  came  Russell  Warren. 
His  hat  was  off  and  his  long  hair  was  swept  back  from 
his  sunburned  face ;    he   looked  the  very  ideal  of  a 
brave  man  in  a  charge.     Before  the  Union  onset  the 
rebels  were  broken  and  divided  into  groups,  that  ral- 
lied where  the  Federals  were  weakest.     Allen  War- 
ren, at  the  head  of  a  few  men,  struck  the  body  where 
his  brother  seemed  the  master-spirit.    The  fight  lasted 
but  a  few  seconds,  when  the  brothers  crossed  swords 


370  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

and  Allen,  in  a  tone  of  supplication  and  demand, 
shouted:  "Russell,  for  the  sake  of  Heaven,  surren- 
der!" "No,  by  the  living  God!'-  came  the  reply, 
as  Eussell  sprang  back  and  with  a  powerful  blow  laid 
old  Dawn  bleeding  on  the  ground.  Another  instant 
and  a  bullet  from  the  carbine  of  little  Ned  pierced 
the  heart  of  the  brave  rebel,  and  he  fell  to  the  ground. 
The  enemy  did  not  pursue  Jackson's  division,  be- 
lieving it  to  be  completely  broken.  They  struck 
Rousseau,  and  for  a  time  that  gallant  division  wavered ; 
but  the  commander  was  everywhere  encouraging  and 
directing,  and  under  his  wonderful  influence  the  men 
seemed  inspired.  The  Third  Ohio  and  Forty-second 
Indiana^ith  Pope's  Fifteenth  Kentucky,  received 
the  assault,  and  like  a  mighty  current  that  strikes 
some  immovable  rock  the  rebel  tide  swept  round  to- 
ward the  Tenth  Ohio,  under  Lytic.  Lytle  was  behind 
a  crest,  his  men  lying  down,  prepared  to  advance  at  a 
moment's  notice.  He  knew  not  that  to  his  left,  up  a 
treacherous  ravine,  the  enemy,  six  thousand  strong, 
were  surging.  There,  within  sight  of  his  friends, 
who  could  not  aid  him,  he  lay  in  ignorance  of  his 
approaching  ruin.  Men  would  have  given  their  lives 
at  that  moment  to  have  told  the  gallant  Lytle  of  his 
danger,  but  there  was  no  time.  Vp  the  ravine  and 
over  the  crest  came  the  rebels,  down  upon  the  heroes 
of  Camifex,  who,  recumbent  on  their  faces,  were  in 
ignorance  of  the  enemy.  An  alarm  from  the  extreme 
right,  and  the  Tenth  sprang  to  their  feet,  the  majority 
to  fall  again,  but  not  as  living  men.  Too  proud  to 
run,  the  remnant  of  that  noble  regiment,  with  their 
faces  to  the  enemy,  fell  slowly  back,  leaving  the 
model  soldier  Lytle  lying  beside  his  men.     Why  did 


THE  BATTLE  OYER.  371 

forty  thousand  soldiers  lie  within  hearing  distance  of 
that  battle  when  one-half  their  number  would  have 
made  it  the  most  complete  victory  of  the  w^ar?  Buell 
can  ansvrer,  perhaps.  As  it  was,  the  fighting  closed 
with  this  last  onset,  and  the  rebels  in  the  darkness 
fell  back  to  Harrodsburg. 

After  Robert  Warren  had  seen  his  own  men  at* 
tended  to,  in  company  with  his  cousin  Allen,  he  sought 
out  that  part  of  the  field  to  the  left  where  Russell 
was  seen  to  fall.  Major  Warren  hoped  that  his  brother 
was  only  wounded.  Past  rows  of  dead  and  'mid  the 
wounded,  who  were  crying  for  water,  the  two  men 
walked,  each  feeling  sick  at  heart  by  the  losses  of 
the  day  and  the  scenes  around  them,  now  that  the 
battle  was  over.  They  found  the  body,  but  it  was 
stiff  and  cold,  with  the  glazed  eyes  turned  up  to  the 
stars  and  the  long  hair  pushed  back  from  the  white 
forehead,  as  in  that  terrible  charge. 

Robert  was  the  first  to  speak.  "  Poor  Russell !"  he 
said.  "  He  was  noble  and  brave,  and  good  in  every- 
thing but  this  one  idea  of  secession." 

xillen  had  taken  his  brother's  coldliand  in  his,  and 
the  hot  tears  fell  on  the  boyish,  upturned  face  of  the 
dead. 

"  We  must  take  him  away,  Robert.  It  will  break 
my  father's  heart ;  but  he  must  see  the  body ;  it  will 
be  a  sad  consolation.  To-day  the  sound  of  the  battle 
was  heard  in  our  old  home.  God  only  knows  for 
which  of  his  boys  my  father  prayed."  As  Allen 
spoke  he  beckoned  to  Archy,  who  accompanied  him, 
and  directed  him  to  carry  the  body  to  their  camp 
back  on  the  hill. 

Near  the  spot  where  Russell  f^ll  they  found  little 


372  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Ned,  who  had  stolen  out  of  camp,  with  his  canteen 
filled  with  whisky  and  water,  to  search  for  his  grand- 
father. The  old  man  was  found  still  living,  though 
weak  from  the  loss  of  blood  and  affected  mentally  by 
the  fearful  gash  in  the  side  of  his  gray  head.  The 
old  man  recognized  the  voice  of  little  Ned,  and  asked 
him  how  the  battle  had  gone  and  if  Jim  was  living. 

"  We  uns  have  licked,"  said  Ned,  as  he  took  the  old 
man's  head  in  his  lap,  "an'  Uncle  Jim  's  shot  in  the 
breast.  He  's  gone  to  hospital.  Keckon,  grandad, 
he  '11  come  out  all  right  bimeby." 

"An'  you,  Ned,  are  you  hurt?"  asked  the  old  man, 
as  he  groped  about  in  the  darkness,  till  his  hand  came 
in  contact  with  that  of  Ned's.  *'  They  mus  n't  hurt 
you,  Ned,  my  boy  ;  yeh  see,  we  uns  mus'  go  back  to 
Tennessee  again." 

"  Dogoned  if  we  ain't  agoin'  thar  too,  grandad. 
Now  do  n't  fuss,  an'  the  cap'n  '11  have  yeh  keered  fur 
like  a  chile,"  and  Ned  looked  up  at  his  captain. 

Robert  stooped  and  talked  to  the  old  man,  but  he 
evidently  did  not  recognize  him,  for  he  became  some- 
what profane  and  imagined  himself  back  in  the 
battle  again.  Shortly  after  old  Dawn  was  carried  to 
the  field-hospital,  and  Robert  and  his  cousin  searched 
for  Gaines  among  the  dead  and  wounded  of  both 
armies  where  he  had  fought,  but  in  vain.  The  two 
hours  given  the  captain  by  General  Rousseau  had 
expired,  and  he  reported  at  once  to  that  officer. 

Though  tired  with  the  heat  and  labor  of  the  day, 
and  sick  at  heart  from  the  loss  of  his  best  men, 
Robert  had  orders  awaiting  him  to  doff  his  uniform 
and  take  such  men  as  he  desired  for  a  scout  in  the 
direction  of  Danville  and  Camp  Dick  Robinson. 


IN  THE  ROLE  OF  REBEL  RECRUITS.  373 

The  first  campaign  of  *61  had  made  him  familiar 
with  every  foot  of  ground  in  that  vicinity.  The 
country  was  filled  with  bands  of  unorganized  Ken- 
tuckians,  who  were  hurrying  out  of  the  State,  and  to 
assume  the  character  of  recruits  was  a  very  easy 
matter  at  that  time  About  2  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
after  a  short  rest,  Robert  Warren  went  south  from 
Perryville,  and,  after  a  ride  of  four  miles,  struck  a 
lane  or  mud  road  that  ran  in  the  direction  of  Danville. 
The  night  was  dark  and  black  clouds  veiled  the  moon, 
and,  as  usual  after  a  battle,  drenched  the  dry  earth 
with  the  much-needed  rain.  The  lane,  after  a  mile's 
ride,  terminated  in  a  beaten  road,  a  short  distance 
down  which  the  scouts  unexpectedly  ran  into  a  body 
of  cavalry  dismounted  by  the  roadside. 

'*  Hallo  I  whar  are  yeh  gwine  with  them  bosses  ?" 
asked  one  of  the  men. 

"I  'm  going  to  Camp  Breckinridge,"  said  Robert, 
in  a  disguised  tone. 

"What  is  your  regiment f  asked  another,  in  an 
authoritative  tone,  as  he  approached  Robert  and  laid 
his  hand  on  his  bridle. 

The  voice  was  familiar,  and  in  an  instant  Robert 
replied :  "  Howard  Smith's  Second  Kentucky." 

"Why,  sir,  your  regiment  is  at  Lexington,"  said 
the  man  at  the  horse's  head. 

"  I  know  that ;  but  I  am  ordered  to  report  with 
thirty-five  recruits  to  him  at  Camp  Breckinridge. 
Would  you  like  to  see  my  papers,  sir?"  asked  Robert. 

"  No ;  I  presume  you  are  all  right  sir.  What  is 
your  name  ?"  again  asked  the  familiar  voice. 

"Parrish,  from  Midway,  sir;  Lieutenant  Parrish." 

"  Oh,  yes,  lieutenant,  I  think  I  have  met  yon^before. 
32 


374  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

My  name  is  Wharton — John  Wharton  of  the  Texan 
Bangers." 

With  an  impetuosity  that  startled  even  the  impul- 
sive Wharton,  Robert  took  off  his  hat,  and,  rising  in 
his  stirrups,  he  turned  to  his  men  and  shouted : 

'*  With  a  will,  boys !  Three  cheers  for  General 
Wharton  and  the  Texas  Rangers  !" 

The  cheers,  or  yells  rather,  which  followed  this 
command  seemed  to  delight  Wharton,  for  he  raised 
his  hat  and  courteously  thanked  "the  men  of  the 
Second  Kentucky." 

The  directions  to  Camp  Breckinridge  were  given 
by  Wharton,  and  Robert  and  his  men,  with  throbbing 
hearts,  rode  on.  The  sky  was  inky  black,  and  a 
hoarse,  rumbling  sound  seemed  to  fill  the  air,  as  if  its 
mutterings  came  from  every  point  of  the  compass. 
On  through  wearied  regiments,  lying  with  their  arms 
beside  them  'neath  the  fences  and  bushes,  past 
miles  of  heavily-laden  wagons  standing  in  the  road, 
with  their  drivers  asleep  on  their  seats,  and  the  rest- 
less mules  kicking  and  braying  with  impatience  for 
the  order  to  "move  on."  Now  and  then  an  extem- 
porized hospital,  like  an  Indian  wig^vam,  with  a  faint 
light  within,  showing  the  ashy,  suffering  faces  of  the 
wounded,  could  be  seen.  That  whole  night,  from  the 
field  of  Perryville,  with  its  thirsting,  moaning  wounded, 
to  the  camps  on  Dick  River,  there  was  presented  to 
the  scouts  one  continued  panorama  of  the  black  and 
horrible  side  of  war.  WaiTen  felt  the  undefined  ter- 
ror of  his  situation  increased  by  the  scenes  he  passed, 
and  he  relied  upon  his  men.  The  men  felt  the  posi- 
tion, perhaps,  more  keenly,  because  their  thoughts 
were  less  occupied,  and  they  relied  upon  the  captain. 


PLUNDERING  KENTUCKY.  375 

Many  a  brilliant  victory  would  have  been  a  terrible 
defeat  were  the  thoughts  and  fears  of  officers  and  men 
known  to  each  other,  and  many  a  defeat  would  have 
turned  to  success  had  the  officers  the  same  high  hopes 
as  the  men,  or  the  men  as  the  officers.  It  is  well  that 
half  the  world  is  ever  in  literal  and  figurative  dark- 
ness as  to  the  other  half,  and  providential  that  the 
lights  interchange.  Had  Buell  been  aware  of  Bragg's 
condition  immediately  after  the  battle  of  Perry  ville,  five 
thousand  well  mounted  cavalry  would  have  destroyed 
all  the  booty  the  rebels  were  taking  from  Kentucky. 

Shortly  after  daylight  the  scouts  reached  Camp  Dick 
Robinson,  which  they  found  crowded  with  stores  and 
raw  recruits,  who  were  going  out  of  the  State  with 
the  rest  of  Bragg's  plunder.  Flour,  beef,  pork,  and 
whisky  were  scattered  around  by  thousands  of  barrels. 
Wagons  loaded  with  the  gi'ain,  driven  by  the  negroes, 
and  drawn  by  the  horses  stolen  from  Union  men 
were  corraled  about  by  hundreds.  Quartermasters 
were  busy  sending  off  the  supplies,  but  so  blocked 
were  the  roads  with  troops  that  it  was  slow  work. 
The  fields  adjoining  the  camp  were  covered  with 
herds  of  the  finest  cattle  and  horses  in  the  State,  all 
waiting  for  an  opening  in  the  line  which  was  march- 
ing toward  Cumberland  Gap. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem.  Captain  Warren,  after  re- 
porting to  Colonel  Moore,  the  officer  in  command  of 
the  camp,  was  not  questioned  or  assigned  to  any  duty. 
He  and  his  men,  however,  made  themselves  busy  load- 
ing the  wagons,  and  Bragg  would  have  had  much  more 
pork  and  beef  and  less  whisky,  when  he  reached  Ten- 
nessee, had  some  warmer  friend  of  the  Confederacy 
been  in  Warren's  position. 


376  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

In  the  meantime  Robert  succeeded  in  getting  ofll 
two  men  with  information  to  General  Buell  of  the 
rebel  position  and  condition. 

The  second  day  after  the  arrival  of  the  scouts  a 
Sody  of  cavalry  entered  the  camp  to  destroy  the 
j?tores  and  gather  up  the  recruits  who  were  unassigned. 
Captain  Warren  protested  against  the  burning  of  the 
stores  until  they  were  certain  no  more  could  be  got 
ofl^  and  so  energetic  was  he  in  loading  to  the  utmost 
and  sending  off  wagons  that  the  officer  in  charge 
complimented  his  ardor  and  acquiesced.  After  a  time 
Moore  insisted  on  firing  the  camp,  and  with  the  same 
earnestness  Captain  Warren  offered  to  help.  While 
the  flames  went  up  from  piles  of  stores  the  sound  of 
firing  came  in  from  the  direction  of  Danville.  By 
twos,  threes,  and  dozens,  as  the  firing  increased,  the 
rebels  left  the  blazing  camp,  till  barely  one  hundred 
men,  under  Moore,  remained,  and  these  were  hard  at 
work,  utterly  ignorant  that  their  arras  had  gone  off  in 
a  wagon  that  left  camp.  The  time  had  come  to  make 
himself  known,  and  at  a  signal  Captain  Warren  and 
his  men  gathered  on  the  Danville  entrance  to  the 
camp,  and,  fastened  to  a  saber,  they  displayed  the 
Stars  and  Stripes.  Moore,  who  was  a  thoroughly  brave 
man,  saw  it,  and  called  on  his  men  to-  mount  and 
charge.  Charge  they  did,  without  arms  and  through 
a  line  of  fire,  past  which  Moore  succeeded  in  getting 
with  a  few  of  his  men.  The  rest  retreated  into  camp 
and  surrendered.  Leaving  a  few  men  to  save  all  the 
property  they  could  and  to  guard  the  prisoners,  the 
captain  followed  up  the  line  of  retreat,  gathering  up 
scores  of  drunken  men  and  stragglers,  who  were  vainly 
trying  to  follow  the  retreating  line.     Robert  knew 


SAFE  RETURN.  377 

that  the  rebel  rear  was  guarded  by  reliable  troops 
that  had  not  yet  passed,  so  he  wisely  fell  back  toward 
Camp  Dick  Robinson  with  his  prisoners,  where  he 
found  the  cavalry  of  Buell's  advance. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII, 


THE   LOST   SISTER. 

Captain  Robert  Warren  was  openly  thanked  by  the 
general  commanding  for  his  conduct  at  Pen-yville  and 
during  the  pursuit  to  Camp  Dick  Robinson  and  Crab 
Orchard,  a  pursuit  that  proved  fruitless,  as  a  whole, 
to  the  Union  Army. 

Since  Robert  had  read  Gasting's  letter  he  often 
thought  of  his  sister,  and  made  inquiries  of  the  doc- 
tors who  had  been  on  duty  in  Nashville,  but  he  did 
not  obtain  the  slightest  clue  to  her  whereabouts,  and 
he  began  to  fear  she  was  dead.  He  succeeded  in 
obtaining  a  ten  days*  leave  of  absence  about  the 
middle  of  the  month,  when  he  started  for  Louisville 
and  instituted  a  search  through  the  provost  marshals 
stationed  in  the  towns  and  garrisons  from  Louisville 
south.  He  advertised  in  the  papers  and  had  editorial 
notice  called  to  the  case,  but  six  days  passed  and  his 
inquiries  brought  no  response,  and  the  faint  hope  of 
ever  seeing  his  sister  died  out.  While  at  Louisville 
his  cousin  Allen  wrote  him  from  home,  where  he  was 
spending  a  short  leave,  asking  him  to  run  up  to  Jes- 
samine and  stay  a  few  days  with  him  before  rejoining 
his  command.  Robert  was  anxious  to  see  his  uncle 
and  tender  his  sympathies  to  the  old  man  in  his 
affliction.  He  availed  himself  of  the  invitation  bjr 
starting  at  once.     It  was  g  short  ride  by  the  railroad 


THE  OLD   KENTUCKY  HOME.  *79 

to  Nicholasville,  and,  reaching  there,  he  was  fortu- 
nate in  finding  Allen  in  the  town  with  a  conveyance. 

The  beautiful  home  on  the  Kentucky  seemed  sadly 
changed  since  the  lovely  spring  morning,  more  than 
a  year  before,  when  Robert  arrived  from  Texas.  The 
grove  approaching  the  house  had  been  the  camp- 
ground of  the  rebel  Greneral  Ledbetter's  command, 
and  the  ground  was  strewn  with  the  debris  and  useless 
impedimenta  which  seems  to  mark  every  camp-ground. 
The  sward  was  blackened  and  scarred  by  camp-fires, 
and  the  smaller  trees  and  shrubs  were  bent  and  torn 
to  form  shelters  for  the  troops.  The  fences  were 
tumbled  do^Mi,  and  the  burned  remnants  of  rails  were 
scattered  about.  The  flower  beds  and  mossy-edged 
walks,  once  watched  with  taste  and  care,  were  un- 
weeded  and  ragged,  and  the  deep  prints  of  horses' 
hoofs  marked  the  lawn  to  the  very  threshold.  The 
house  itself,  so  quaint  and  irregular,  with  its  archi- 
tectural sm'prises  and  ivy-covered  gables,  looked 
gloomy  and  desolate.  The  blinds  were  down  and  the 
shutters  closed,  while  the  wind,  wintry  and  cutting, 
moaned  through  the  trees,  sweeping  the  brown  locust 
leaves  in  heaps  about  the  gallery  and  whistling  with 
a  saddening  sound  about  the  high,  brown  chimnies. 
Inside  Robert  found  the  once  bright  Bell,  pale  and 
careworn,  her  face  wearing  an  expression  of  sadness 
and  age,  that  the  deep  mourning  dress  increased.  His 
uncle  was  much  depressed,  and  greeted  Robert  in  a 
low,  tremulous  voice,  as  if  afraid  to  wake  some  loved 
sleeper  vdiose  rest  depended  on  quiet. 

The  merits  of  the  Union  and  States'  rights  questions 
were  no  longer  matters  for  discussion,  and  even  Bell 
avoidedt  hem.     They  spoke  of  Russell,  the  generous. 


380  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

impulsive  boy,  so  honest  in  his  convictions,  so  noble 
even  in  his  erring  acts.  A  few  days  before  Robert's 
arrival  they  buried  Russell  on  the  steep  banks  of  the 
river  he  loved  so  well,  and  one  sweet  girl  from  a 
neighboring  plantation  left  the  freshly-covered  grave 
with  a  breaking  heart.  Poor  Agnes  Ludlow !  she 
sank  from  that  day.  The  doctors  called  her  sickness 
a  decline,  but,  like  many  girls  who  dropped  quietly 
away  during  the  years  of  strife,  her  death-wound 
came  from  the  battle-field. 

Mr.  Warren's  great  loss  in  the  campaign  of  Bragg 
was  his  young,  bright  boy ;  but  in  addition  he  suf- 
fered greatly  in  his  worldly  goods.  The  Confederates 
had  a  maxim  which  they  invariably  carried  out  to  the 
letter.  If  a  civilian  had  anything  they  desired  or 
needed  they  took  it,  saying,  "If  you  are  in  favor  of 
the  Confederacy,  you  will  give  this  willingly  to  secure 
success.  K  you  are  in  favor  of  the  Yankees,  you 
deserve  to  lose  it."  The  cattle,  horses,  and  negroes 
were  taken  without  receipt  by  Bragg's  quartermasters. 
The  granaries  were  depleted,  and  the  wagons  taken 
to  carry  off  the  grain.  Even  the  park  where  Mr. 
Warren  kept  his  deer  was  unfenced  by  Ledbetter's 
men,  and  the  animals  shot  in  very  wantonness.  Bell 
acknowledged  during  that  first  evening  that  the  Con- 
federates were  not  the  noble,  chivalric  men  she  had 
imagined,  though  she  could  not  help  adding : 

"  I  am  sm-e  the  Yankees  would  have  been  worse.'* 

Mr.  Warren  deplored  his  afflictions  as  too  severe  for 

one  who  stood  aloof  and  looked  impartially  on  the 

contest.    After  making  suxih  a  statement,  Robert  said  : 

"You  will  pardon  me,  uncle,  but  it  is  impossible 

for  any  American  to  be  neutral  in  this  struggle.     Ho 


A  DIVIDED  HOUSE.  38i 

may  imagine  himself  to  be  so,  but  his  sympathies 
are  with  one  side  or  the  other.  I  have  made  it  a  rule— 
and  I  think  it  safe— that  when  a  man  is  neutral  or 
doubtful,  set  him  down  as  opposed  to  you." 

*' You  are  not  just  to  me,  Kobert,"  said  the  old  man» 
leaning  his  head  on  his  hand  and  sighing;  "no  man 
is  before  me  in  his  love  for  the  Government,  but  it 's 
very  hard  to  go  against  one's  friends  and  interests.'* 

"God  knows  how  keenly  I  have  felt  that,  father," 
said  Allen  as  he  gently  took  his  father's  thin  hand  in 
his.  "Had  Russell  fought  by  my  side  I  could  not 
have  loved  him  more,  and  in  the  very  heat  of  battle, 
opposed  to  me  as  he  was,  I  would  have  died  to  save 
him.  But  no  matter  where  a  man  was  born,  or  what 
blood  runs  in  his  veins,  if  he  casts  down  what  honor 
and  patriotism  call  on  me  to  uphold,  that  man  is  my 
foe  while  he  resists,  and  it  is  my  duty  to  oppose  him." 

"It  seems  to  me  our  family  in  Texas  and  here  has 
been  fearfully  afflicted— more  so  than  any  I  know  of, 

thoughIthink,notexceptingpoor  Russell,  thatwe  have 
all  tried  to  do  our  duty,"  said  Robert,  as  he  rose  and 
opening  a  widow,  gazed  out  on  the  bleak  woods  and 
neglected  grounds. 

The  conversation  was  changed  a  dozen  times,  but 
ever  and  anon  the  subject  uppermost  in  each  mind 
would  come  to  the  surface,  and  the  war  with  its  horrors 
was  the  fruitful  theme. 

Robert  staid  twenty-four  hours  at  his  uncle's,  and 
desiring  to  visit  Perryville  to  look  for  Gaines  and 
Tennessee,  with  his  father,  old  Dawn,  he  determined 
to  leave  so  as  to  reach  his  command  promptly  on  the 
expiration  of  his  short  leave  of  absence!  His  re- 
ception had  been  so  kind,  and  Bell  so  much  like  the 


382  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

sweet  girl  he  had  kissed  adieu  that  sturixiy  ujgut  at 
Gonzelletta,  when  he  started  north,  that  he  felt  very 
sad  at  parting,  and  prayed  that  another  young  soldier, 
dear  to  his  cousin,  might  be  spared  by  the  Union  bullets. 

Buell's  army,  after  its  fatiguing,  fruitless  pursuit, 
returned  to  Lebanon,  where  it  was  again  organizing 
to  retrace  its  steps  South.  Robert  proceeded  to  Per- 
ryville  at  once,  hoping  to  see  his  friends.  Reaching 
there,  he  found  Dr.  Hatchett  acting  as  post  surgeon, 
and  from  him  he  learned  that  the  three  men  in  whom 
he  was  so  much  interested  were  living  and  in  the 
hospital,  a  Baptist  church  in  the  village.  The  doctor 
was  a  kind-hearted  Christian  gentleman,  and  a  Ken- 
tuckian.  lie  volunteered  to  accompany  Robert,  and 
as  they  entered  the  church  they  met,  'mid  the  crowd 
of  wounded  men  sitting  about  the  door,  old  Dawn, 
with  his  grey  head  so  disguised  by  plasters  and  band- 
ages as  to  be  hardly  recognizable.  He  was  smoking 
a  corn-cob  pipe,  and  entertaining  his  interested  audi- 
tors by  an  eulogy  of  Andrew  Jackson,  and  an  account 
of  the  Cherokee  Indians,  among  whom  he  was  raised. 
The  old  man  recognized  the  captain  first,  and  spring- 
ing from  his  seat  with  the  activity  of  a  young  man, 
he  seized  Robert's  hand,  and  in  a  voice  filled  with 
honest  earnestness  he  said  :  '"Fore  heaven,  cap,  I  'm 
glad  to  see  yeh.  Dogond  if  I  do  n't  feel  all  right  this 
minute  !"     Then  dropping  his  voice  he  asked : 

"How  is  he?    Did  ther  boy  come  out  squar?" 

"You  mean  little  Ned?"  said  the  captain. 

"  Yes,  him  ;  I'vr;  been  right  smart  riled  a  thinkin* 
on  him." 

"He  is  safe  and  sound ;  I  had  him  made  a  sergeant 
after  Perry viUe.' ' 


THE  WOUNDED  SCOUTS.  383 

**  Now,  I  swar,"  said  the  old  man,  looking  around  on 
the  group  of  soldiers,  ' '  who  'd  have  thought  of  my 
little  boy  bein'  a  sargin.  Keckon  the  doctor  '11  let 
me  start  back  right  off — I  never  felt  better  in  my  life." 

The  doctor  laughed  heartily  at  this,  and  promised 
that  if  the  old  man  took  care  of  himself  he  would  be 
able  to  return  in  ten  days. 

"Wall,  doc,  jis'  say  what  I've  got  to  do,  and  by 
the  ghost  of  old  Andrew  I'll  git  right  down  to  it." 

"  Where  is  Tennessee?"  asked  Kobert,  as  he  stepped 
into  the  hospital." 

"  Poor  Jim  !"  said  the  old  man,  "the  rebs  jist  went 
for  him  heavy." 

The  doctor  and  Eobert,  accompanied  by  the  old 
man,  walked  down  the  long  avenue  of  cots  with  their 
pale,  suffering  occupants.  Near  where  the  pulpit  once 
stood  they  stopped  before  a  bed  that  was  made  on 
the  floor,  and  beside  which  two  nurses  knelt,  one  of 
them  holding  the  long,  wasted  arm  of  Tennessee. 
Robert  could  scarcely  believe  the  evidence  of  his 
senses.  The  long,  yellow  beard  had  been  cut  off,  and 
the  thick,  sim-bumed  hair,  that  once  gave  a  leonine 
apppearance  to  the  scout,  was  shaved  closely.  The 
blue  eyes,  so  full  of  humor  and  kindness,  now  glared 
with,  the  expression  of  a  maniac,  and  from  the  long, 
full  face  the  flesh  had  fallen  away,  leaving  the  browt 
skin  drawn  tight  on  the  prominent  cheek-bones. 

Robert  knelt  down,  the  tears  starting  from  his  eyes, 
and  in  a  voice  gentle  as  a  woman's  whispered,  "  Ten- 
nessee, Tennessee,  my  brave  boy  !  do  you  know  me?" 
The  large  eyes  rolled,  and  Tennessee  stared  wildly 
around,  then  tried  to  disengage  his  arm. 

♦*The  ball  passed  from  right  to  left  througli  both 


384  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

lungs,"  said  the  doctor.  Ninety-nine  men  out  of  a 
hundred  would  have  died  at  once,  but  he  is  a  giant. 
This  unfortunate  fever  ha§  shaken  the  hopes  I  had 
for  his  recovery.  A  speedy  change  must  come,  cap- 
tain ;  he  cannot  last  many  hours." 

"  Is  it  brave?  Is  it  squar',  tell  me,  yeh  houn's?" 
Tennessee  turned  his  head  as  he  raved,  and  for  an 
instant  he  seemed  to  recognize  the  captain.  Then 
the  glare  came  back,  and  in  an  intense  whisper,  as  if 
speaking  under  some  strong,  suppressed  excitement, 
he  said : 

"  Let  me  out,  damn  yeh  !  Let  me  out  an'  I  '11  come 
back  !  Oh  God,  they  're  a-drownded  !  Don  't  cuss  me 
so,  Cap  !  Here,  look  in  at  Jim.  Dawn's  heart.  Ain't 
it  clean?     I  didn't  mean  ter  harm  yeh,  afore  God." 

Here  Tennessee  struggled  to  free  ]iis  hand  and  ex- 
pose his  heart,  but  the  nurses  restrained  him.  The 
doctor  succeeded  in  forcing  some  medicine  between 
the  thin,  ashy  lips,  flecked  with  foam.  Then  he  knelt 
and  felt  the  pulse  for  a  minute  or  more.  Gradually  the 
eyes  closed,  and  two  little  streams  of  dark  blood 
trickled  from  the  open  nostrils. 

Old  Dawn  became  so  excited  that  the  doctor  had 
him  removed,  and  Robert  promised  to  see  him  again. 

"  Doctor,  that  man  dying  there  is  one  of  the  few 
men  in  this  world  that  I  would  feel  willing  to  die  for. 
He  has  been  everything  that  a  brave,  generous,  noble- 
hearted  man  could  be.  I  feel  as  if  his  death  would 
kill  me.     For  God's  sake,  doctor,  save  him  !  " 

The  tears  rose  to  Robert's  eyes,  and  the  kind-heai  ted 
doctor  led  him  away.  When  they  got  into  the  open 
air,  the  doctor  said : 

"  It  would  be  foolish  to  deceive  you  with  a  hope. 


THE  WOUNDED  SCOUTS.  S85 

Everything  has  been  done  for  this  man,  and  if  he 
should  recover  I  will  regard  it  as  nothing  short  of  a 
miracle.  However,  you  can  depend  upon  me  to  the 
extent  of  my  power." 

Robert  thanked  the  doctor,  and  as  they  walked 
through  the  town,  he  met  a  number  of  his  wounded 
men  hobbling  around  and  carrying  their  arms  in 
slings.  Among  the  latter  was  "  Indian  Nation,'*  and 
he  expressed  in  his  exaggerated,  Western  way,  his 
feelings  at  seeing  the  captain. 

"  We  didn't  bury  Aleck  Cameron  on  the  field,  Cap. 
Some  of  us  boys  toted  him  back.  He 's  fixed  up  thar 
on  the  hill,  vmder  that  black  rock.  And  afore  we 
leave  we  're  a  go  in'  to  cut  his  name  thar.  Poor  Aleck, 
he  was  jest  game.'* 

"  Indeed  was  he.  No  braver  man  is  left,"  said  the 
captain,  shaking  Indian  Nation's  unwounded  hand. 

Gaines  had  been  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy  for 
gallant  conduct  at  Perryville.  Robert  would  have 
called  on  him  first,  but  he  had  to  pass  the  church 
where  Tennessee  lay  w^ounded,  in  order  to  reach  the 
private  residence  used  as  an  ofiicers'  hospital,  where 
Gaines  lay  with  a  shattered  leg. 

He  was  delighted  to  see  Robert,  and  despite  his 
great  suffering,  he  bore  up  with  a  cheerfulness  which 
surprised  his  friend,  for  hitherto  he  seemed  to  act 
without  much  feeling,  and  simply  from  the  motive  of 
duty. 

He  spoke  of  his  wound  in  a  light  way,  assured  the 
captain,  and  appealed  to  the  doctor  to  corroborate  his 
statement  that  he  would  be  about  in  a  few  days. 

"But,  Gaines,  old  boy,"  said  the  captain,  "where 
were  you  wounded?  I  have  an  indistinct  recollection 
33 


386  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

of  seeing  you  in  the  advance  when  we  charged  on 
Gilbert's  front." 

*'  Yes,  I  was  ahead.  The  fact  is,  I  got  beside  my- 
self, and  made  a  bee-line  for  a  rebel  flag.  I  got  it, 
and  the  next  instant  I  felt  my  leg  crack  like  a  pipe- 
stem,  and  down  I  went.  You  were  then  to  the  left. 
The  line  began  to  fall  back,  and  I  begged  some  of 
the  Missourians,  with  whom  we  were  mixed  up,  to  carry 
me  back.  They  did  so,  and  I  hung  on  to  the  colors 
like  a  child  to  a  Christmas  toy.  I  was  taken  to  our 
rear,  and  lay  for  hours  on  the  field.  I  must  say  I 
thought  about  dying  at  times,  when  I  fainted  with 
the  heat  and  loss  of  blood.  By  the  way,  Robert,  here 
are  the  colors." 

Gaines  drew  from  under  his  pillow  a  barred  flag, 
tattered  by  balls  and  stained  with  blood.  The  blue 
ground  had  a  lone  star  in  the  center,  and  in  heavy 
letters  on  the  white  stripe  were  the  words,  "Presented 
by  the  ladies  of  Fort  Bend  to  Company  F,  Eighth 
Texas  Cavalry." 

"  This,  indeed,  is  a  prize  worth  struggling  for.  Let 
me  congratulate  you  on  capturing  the  colors  of  the 
best  men  in  the  Southern  army." 

**  Seriously,  I  did  not  know  to  what  regiment  they 
belonged,  all  were  fighting  dismounted.  I  think  I 
must  have  been  crazy  when  I  started.  However,  that 
is  all  past.  I  was  sorry  to  hear  of  your  cousin's  death. 
What  have  you  heard  from  home  ?" 

Eobert  related  his  fruitless  search  for  his  sister,  and 
also  told  Gaines  that  he  was  then  en  route  to  Labanon 
to  join  •  the  remnant  of  his  company.  Gaines  was 
sanguine  about  his  speedy  return  to  the  front.  After 
Kobert  had  congratulated  him  on  his  promotion,  and 


A  REVEREND  REBEL.  387 

tendered  his  kindly  services,  he  bade  his  old  friend 
good-bye,  and  promising  to  write  as  often  as  possible, 
he  returned  to  the  hospital.  Tennessee  was  asleep, 
his  long  arms  stretched  by  his  side,  his  mouth  open, 
and  only  the  slowly-heaving  breast  indicated  life. 

Robert  knelt  beside  the  cOt  for  a  short  time 
w^ith  bowed  head ;  then  he  rose,  and  fearing  to  touch 
the  thin,  skeleton-like  hand,  lest  it  might  arouse  the 
sleeper,  he  walked  quietly  away.  He  gave  Old  Dawn, 
whom  he  met  outside,  a  little  money  for  his  own 
w^ants,  and  begging  the  doctor  to  write  him  at  once 
if  Tennessee  died,  he  mounted  and  started  for  Leb- 
anon. 

South  again  the  Army  turned,  jaded  and  broken  by 
fruitless  marches  and  indecisive  encounters.  Bragg 
had  entered  East  Tennesse  in  safety,  and  was  moving 
around  by  Chattanooga  and  Stevenson  to  confront  the 
Union  forces  again  in  Middle  Tennessee. 

At  the  little  town  of  Evansville  Robert  met  some 
relatives  of  Mrs.  Boardman,  all  of  whom  sympathized 
with  the  cause  of  the  Confederacy.  He  told  them  of 
the  sufferings  of  the  Union  people  in  Texas,  and 
spoke  of  his  fears  as  to  the  safety  of  Mrs.  Boardman 
and  Amy. 

The  Rev.  William  McArthur,  a  cousin  of  Mrs. 
Boardman,  offset  Robert's  account  by  describing  the 
advent  and  exit  of  Jim  Brownlow's  troops  in  their 
village.  The  clergyman  spoke  in  a  voice  of  holy  in- 
dignation. 

*'  Providence,  for  some  wise  purpose  best  known  to 
Him,  Captain  "Warren,  afflicted  us  a  week  since  with 
the  First  Tennessee  Cavalry.  Col.  Johnson,  or  "Bob 
Johnson,'  ^  as  his  men  call  him,  is  supposed  to  com- 


388  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

raand  that  collection  of  most  vile  men.     Johnson  is 
a  son  of  that  very  bad  man,  the  Yankee  governor  of 
Tennessee.       Brownlow    is    lieutenant-colonel ;     his 
met   call  him  '  Jim ;'  he  is  the  son  of  the  parson ; 
thank  God,  there  are  not  many  such  clergymen  !"  and 
the  Rev.  Mc Arthur,  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians, 
raised  his  eyes  in  the  direction  supposed  to  indicate 
the  location  of  heaven.     Then  he  continued,  with  a 
sanctimonious  sigh:  "Those  vile,  unorganized  men, 
six  hundred  strong,  entered   our  peaceful  village  on 
the  holy  Sabbath  day.     I  purposed  holding  worship  in 
my  church   that   night,  but   my   dear  parishioners, 
knowing  the  vile  religious  tenets  of  Brownlow,  and 
the  utterly  degraded  character  of  Johnson,  restrained 
me.     The  officers  stopped  at  Davis's  Hotel.     Mr.  Da- 
vis is  a  most  excellent  man,  and  a  cousin  of  his  ex- 
cellency President  Davis.     The  men  were  scattered 
around,  quartered  on  the  people,  and  any  opposition 
to  their  wishes  resulted  in  coarse  language  and  threats. 
They  changed  their  old,  broken-down  horses  for  the 
best  in  the  place,  and  even  mine,  presented  by  my 
people,  was  not  beyond  their  avarice.    He  was  a  beau- 
tiful, faithful  horse  ;  a  child  could  drive  him.     In  his 
place  there  is  a  huge,  bony  skeleton,  spavined,  back 
sore,  and  with  a  tendency  to  bite  that  is  fearful,  and 
a  habit  of  lying  down  in  harness  if  he  hears  a  pistol 
fired.     It  is  not  of  this  I  complain,  Captain  Warren, 
hard  as  it  is  to  bear,"  said  the  Rev.  McArthur  in  a 
reproving  tone,  as  he  noticed  the  symptoms  of  a  smile 
about  the  captain's  mouth.     "  The  worst  is  to  come. 
Johnson  demanded  whisky  from  Mr.  Davis,  which  that 
gentleman  prudently  withheld.     Thereupon  Johnson, 
who  occupied  the  parlor  and  sat  on  the  sofa  with  a 


GRIEYANCES.  389 

chair  supporting  each  of  his  legs,  sent  for  Mr.  Davis, 
and,  handing  him  the  sacred  book,  presented  by  his 
Sunday-school  class,  and  i^hich  Mr.  Davis  has  ever 
prized  and  kept  as  a  parlor  ornament,  he  said  :  *  Your 
name  is  Davis  ?'  in  a  coarse,  insulting  tone. 

♦ '  *  It  is,'  replied  Mr.  Davis,  firmly. 

*'  *  You  refuse  to  give  me  whisky,'  said  Johnson. 

*'  *  As  proprietor  of  this  Jiotel  I  cannot  sell  liquor  on 
the  Sabbath  day,'  answered  Mr.  Davis. 

"  *  Who  the  devil  dared  to  ask  you  to  violate  your 
principles,  sir?  I  want  whisky  for  nothing.  Now, 
you  \e  got  to  swear  you  have  none  in  this  shanty,  or 
I'll  raise  a  rumpus  that'll  make  your  head  swim.' 

**Mr.  Davis,  of  course,  refused  to  swear,  and  there- 
upon Johnson  called  for  his  comrade,  Brownlow.  To 
him  he  exaggerated  the  supposed  offense  of  Mr,  Davis, 
and  then  said : 

"  *  Now,  Jim,  if  you  were  in  ray  place,  what  would 
you  do  with  this  man?' 

"  '  Do  ! '  said  Brownlow,  in  a  drunken  voice.  '  Why, 
Bob,  I  'd  just  gag  the  old  chap  and  send  him  to  jail.* 

" '  You  see  the  advantage  of  a  good  lieutenant- 
colonel,  Mr.  Davis,'  said  Johnson.  Then  calling  a 
sergeant,  they  sent  Mr.  Davis  to  jail.  That  is,  we 
have  no  place  used  for  the  retaining  of  criminals 
here,  so  they  converted  the  house  of  God — my 
church — into  a  jail ! '  * 

Mr.  McArthui^'s  voice  became  tremulous,  and  he 
took  a  cup  of  water  to  strengthen  himself  for  his 
task. 

"I  deplore  this  conduct  on  the  part  of  Colonel 
Johnson,"  said  the  captain.  "  In  defense  of  my  com- 
rades, however,  I  must  say,  Mr.  McArthur,  that  it  is 
33* 


390  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

the  exception  to  the  rule.  We  try  to  treac  even  our 
enemies,  when  captured,  .vith  consideration." 

"I  have  not  concluded,  Captain  Warren.  Wait 
till  I  have  told  you  the  whole  of  this  most  infamous 
transaction.  Mr,  Davis  was  confined  in  the  church 
and  a  guard  placed  over  him.  This  outrage  came  to 
the  ears  of  myself  and  some  brother  clergymen,  and 
we  repaired  at  once  to  the  hotel  and  remonstrated 
with  Colonel  Johnson.  He  felt  like  relenting,  but, 
unfortunately  for  us,  he  submitted  the  case  to  Brown- 
low.  I  did  not  like  this  bad  young  man's  reckless 
appearance.     He  turned  to  me  and  said : 

"  'You  can  arrange  this  matter  at  once  by  giving 
the  colonel  some  whisky.  He  's  a  very  moderate 
drinker ;  ten  gallons  will  make  him  as  happy  as  a 
lamb  and  innocent  as  a  dove  till  morning.' 

"  '  That 's  so,  Jim.  If  they  do  the  proper  thing  they 
can  allay  my  troubled  spirit  and  release  from  dungeon 
yon  pining  man.'  As  Johnson  said  this  he  pointed  to 
an  oil  painting  of  Mr.  Davis  hanging  above  the  piano. 

*'  Of  course  we  refused  to  comply  with  this  request, 
and  were  about  to  withdraw,  when  Johnson  told  the 
sergeant  to  detain  us. 

"'Jim,'  he  said,  turning  to  Brownlow,  'havn't  I 
the  temper  of  an  A  No.  1  angel?' 

'" K  you  don  't  know  that  you  're  angelically  dis- 
posed, Bob,  it  is'nt  for  want  of  my  telling  yoti.  I 
have  watched  with  wondering  awe  your  familiarity 
and  daily  intercourse  with  the  spirits.'  As  Brown, 
low  spoke  I  trembled  at  his  profanity,  but  what  could 
be  expected  from  the  son  of  such  a  father? 

*' '  Now,  Jim,  what  shall  we  do  with  these  holy 
men?'  asked  Johnson. 


A  COMPROMISE.  391 

"'Put  them  in  jail  with  the  landlord,'  said  the 
fiend.  And  they  did,  Mr.  Warren  ;  they  incarcerated 
us  in  the  house  of  prayer."  Mr.  McArthur  showed 
symptoms  of  wealaiess,  and  sipped  some  more  water 
at  this  part  of  the  narrative. 

After  this,  a  number,  indeed  the  majority  of  the 
gentlemen  in  town,  without  regard  to  church,  called 
on  Johnson,  and  they  too  were  incarcerated  in  the 
same  way.  This  was  not  the  worst  feature  of  this 
most  abominable  transaction.  Our  wives  went  to 
the  brutes  in  a  body  and  demanded  our  release, 
and — would  you  believe  it,  Captain  Warren,  you  who 
wear  the  uniform  those  men  disgraced  ? — they  actu- 
ally sent  the  ladies  to  jail,  too.  I  can  never  forget 
the  agony  of  that  night,"  and  Mr.  McArthur  pressed 
his  white  hand  to  his  brow. 

"  But  did  they  keep  you  in  there  all  night,"  asked 
Robert. 

"  No,"  replied  Mr.  McArthur,  "  we  knelt  in  prayer, 
and  asked  for  advice.  The  enemy  had  the  power  and 
we  compromised  by  letting  Mr.  Davis  give  them  the 
whisky.  Then  we  returned  to  our  distracted  fami- 
Ues.'' 

Mr.  McArther  had  told  the  longest  story,  and 
Robert,  suppressing  his  feelings,  deplored  the  horrors 
of  war. 


CH'APTEK  XXXV. 


THE   SCOUTS  RE-ENFORCED. 

Back  again  to  Tennessee  the  Union  Army  marched, 
mortified  and  discouraged  by  the  useless  campaign  in 
Kentucky.  A  feeling  of  discontent  prevailed,  and 
the  men  lost  that  confidence  which  they  had  after  the 
successes  of  the  previous  spring.  While  General 
Buell  was  certainly  an  accomplished  gentleman  and 
a  soldier  of  undoubted  bravery,  it  was  wise  in  the 
Government  to  replace  him  by  Rosecrans  at  that  time. 
The  latter  officer  secured  at  once  the  confidence  of 
the  troops,  both  by  the  reforms  he  instituted  and  his 
previous  brilliant  record. 

Captain  Warren's  company  was  increased  by  details 
from  other  regiments  to  the  number  of  one  hundred 
and  eleven  men.  As  a  rule  they  were  well  acquainted 
with  the  South  by  a  residence  therein  before  the  war. 
Among  the  men  who  joined  him  in  the  latter  part  of 
November  was  Lieutenant  Alfred  Richardson,  of  the 
Second  Middle  Tennessee  Cavalry.  He  was  the  very 
ideal  of  a  Southern  gentleman,  of  a  good  family  and 
splendid  education.  He  was  about  twenty-eight  years 
of  age,  of  middle  height,  firmly  though  slightly  built, 
with  brown  hair  and  large,  dark  eyes,  with  a  broad 
brow,  which  the  sun  never  seemed  to  tan.  In  manner 
he  was  somewhat  reserved,  but  toward  those  whom  he 
esteemed,  he  was  frankness  itself.     There  was  a  mag- 


AN  OUTPOST  INCIDENT.  393 

netism  about  Richardson  which  won  men  at  once, 
while  it  seemed  to  repel  familiarity.  From  the  first 
he  and  Robert  became  friends  of  the  strongest  kind, 
for  their  mutual  regard  had  its  foundation  in  respect. 

The  early  December  came  cold  and  dreary,  with 
its  leafless  trees,  muddy  roads,  and  drizzling  rain  and 
sleet.  It  was  just  the  time  when  w^arm  clothing  and 
cheerful  fires  in  cozy  rooms  were  pleasant.  But  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland  was  houseless  and  restless, 
anxious  to  measure  its  strength  under  a  new  leader 
with  Bragg.  The  Confederate  troops  had  made  a 
wonderful  march — through  southeastern  Kentucky  and 
Cumberland  Gap  into  East  Tennessee,  then  down  to 
Chattanooga  and  around  by  Stevenson  to  Murfrees- 
boro',  where  they  confronted  the  Union  forces.  The 
summer's  heat,  with  dusty  roads  and  exhausting 
marches,  was  hard  on  the  troops,  but  the  cool  nights 
of  summer  brought  a  respite  when  men  could  rest. 
The  winter's  constant  cold,  with  muddy  camping 
grounds,  leaking  tents,  and  marches  when  the  weary 
feet  seemed  covered  with  cold,  liquid  lead,  was  still 
harder  on  the  men  ,  but  they  bore  all  cheerfully  after 
Rosecrans  took  command. 

One  night  while  Captain  Warren's  men  were  doing 
picket  duty  for  a  cavalry  force  that  was  raiding  in  the 
direction  of  McMinnville,  an  incident  occurred,  the 
narration  of  which  will  throw  some  light  on  the  con- 
dition and  feeling  of  the  Union  soldiers  at  this  time 
in  the  South  and  West.  It  was  a  cold  night,  w4ien 
the  wind  seemed  to  cut  every  object  it  struck,  and  an 
icy  enamel  covered  everything  exposed  to  its  force. 
Lieutenant  Richardson  had  charge  of  an  advanced 
picket  post  on  the  McMinnville  road.    Under  the  brow 


894  ^      WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

of  the  hill  on  which  the  pickets  were  posted,  the  men 
had  built  a  fire  and  piled  up  a  heap  of  branches  to 
windward  to  break  the  force  of  the  northwester.  The 
horses,  though  blanketed,  drew  themselves  up  and 
shivered  and  crowded  together  in  a  vain  effort  to 
keep  warm.  Robert  had  charge  of  a  picket  front  of 
over  half  a  mile,  and  as  they  were  close  to  Fon-est  at 
the  time,  he  exercised  more  than  his  usual  caution. 
It  was  no  uncommon  occurrence  at  this  time  for  fugi- 
tive slaves  under  cover  of  the  darkness  to  pass  the 
rebel  lines  and  seek  the  Union  pickets  with  the  hope 
of  protection  and  liberty.  Orders  from  headquarters, 
however,  made  it  imperative  on  the  officers  into  whose 
commands  the  furtive  came  to  retain  them  till  their 
masters  came  to  claim  their  property.  It  was  galling 
to  many  a  brave  man,  who  was  in  favor  of  or  indiffer- 
ent about  slavery,  thus  to  be  made  a  slave-catcher  for 
his  enemies.  About  three  o'clock  on  the  night  in 
question  Robert  visited  Richardson's  post.  The  men, 
with  their  belts  drawn  tight  and  their  great-coat  col- 
lars turned  up  till  they  met  their  slouched  hats,  walked 
nervously  around  or  crouched  before  the  fire,  so  cold 
on  one  side  and  smoky  on  the  other  that  comfort  and 
heat  were  impossible  at  the  same  time.  Richardson 
alone  seemed  indifferent  to  the  blast ;  his  face  was 
pale  and  stem,  and  he  met  his  captain  as  he  dis- 
mounted with  more  than  his  habitual  reserve.  On 
reaching  the  fire  Robert  was  struck  with  a  group  of 
negroes  huddled  together  and  evidently  suffering  from 
some  great  fatigue  or  over-excitement.  There  were 
four,  lightly  clad  and  poorly  shod ;  two  men,  one 
quite  old,  the  other  about  thirty,  with  a  young 
woman  and  a  child.     The  woman  looked  earnestly 


ESCAPING  FROM  BONDAGE.  395 

from  face  to  face,  as  if  about  to  ask  some  vital 
question,  wliile  she  hugged  her  little  one  closer 
to  her  breast,  and  drew  arounci  it  the  ends  of 
the  ragged  black  shawl  in  which  it  was  wrapped. 
The  old  man  had  that  patriarchal  look  peculiar  to 
old  negroes.  His  head  was  perfectly  white,  and  his 
close,  straggling  beard  and  eye-brows  of  the  same 
color  formed  a  strange  contrast  to  his  black  face,  and 
looked  as  if  the  intense  cold  had  frosted  the  hair. 
But  the  look  of  painful  anxiety  on  the  face,  and  the 
blending  expression  of  pain  and  fright,  gave  at  first 
sight  the  impression  that  his  "hair  had  grown  white 
in  a  single  night,  as  men  have  grown  through  sudden 
fear."  The  young  man  seemed  indifferent  to  the 
cold.  He  was  powerfully  built,  and  his  thin  cotton 
garments  served  but  to  show  the  muscular  form  they 
so  poorly  covered.  He  sat  on  the  ground  beside  the 
young  woman,  his  face  resting  between  his  hands,  and 
a  stout  staff,  with  a  bundle  attached,  lying  on  the 
ground  beside  him.  A  thick  leather  belt  was  fastened 
around  his  waist,  between  which  and  his  body  a  heavy 
hatchet  was  fastened.  He  looked  the  very  picture  of 
fierce  desperation.  His  eyes  were  fixed  intently  on 
the  fire,  unmoved  by  the  fitful  flashes  with  which  the 
cold  wind  fanned  it.  The  muscles  of  his  face  about 
the  high  cheek-bones  seemed  thick  and  swollen, 
while  the  large  mouth,  with  its  heavy,  compressed 
lips,  looked  as  if  cut  out  of  black  marble, 

Robert  knew  at  once-  they  were  fugitives,  and  a 
chill  not  excited  by  the  howling  wind  passed  through 
him.  Approaching  the  fire  he  stooped  to  warm  his 
hands,  while  he  addressed  the  young  black  man  : 

"Well,  boy,  where  did  you  come  from  to-night?'* 


396  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

The  black  man  raised  bis  bead  and  looked  with 
an  expression  of  half  supplication  and  half  wonder  at 
Robert,  without  speaking.  Robert  repeated  his  ques- 
tion, and  the  negro,  prefacing  his  reply  with  a  sigh, 
which  only  the  compressed  lips  had  hitherto  repressed, 
said: 

"  Mauss,  me  an'  dad  an'  Sal  an'  de  liddle  one  have 
come  to  you  for  freedom.  You  'se  de  Yankees,  is  n't 
yeh?" 

"Yes,  boy,  they  call  us  'Yankees.*  Where  did 
you  come  from  ?  " 

*'  Mauss,  it 's  a  long  way  off.  Fur  two  days  we  've 
bin  in  de  woods.  De  young  un  's  a'most  dead,  an'  dad 
ain't  strong  any  more.  De  sale  wuz  to  be  yesterday, 
an'  we  left  fur  de  Yankees." 

"  What  do  you  mean  about  the  sale? " 

•'  Why,  Mauss  Dick  wuz  killed  in  Kaintuck.  We 
b'longed  to  him,  an'  dey  wuz  to  sell  de  place  yester- 
day. Sal  wuz  on  anodder  place,  but  I  knowed  I  wuz 
goin'  souf  from  her  an'  dad  an'  de  chile,  so  we  left 
fur  de  Yanks." 

"  Do  you  know,  boy,  that  the  Yankees  cannot  take 
care  of  you.  We  are  not  fighting  to  make  the  slaves 
free  ;  we  are  fighting  for  the  Union.  We  must  keep 
you  till  to-morrow,  and  if  any  one  comes  after  you 
we  have  orders  to  send  you  back  to  your  master." 

As  Robert  spoke  the  black  man  rose  to  his  feet  and 
stood  near  his  wife,  who  had  uttered  a  low,  wailing 
cry.  The  lately  compressed  lips  quivered  with  emo- 
tion, and  the  large  black  eyes  fairly  flashed,  as  one 
strong,  muscular  hand  instinctively  clutched  the 
handle  of  the  hatchet.  The  old  man  stood  up  beside 
his  son,  and  in  a  tremulous  voice,  with  clasped  hands, 
he  said : 


A  PLEA  AND  A  PROTEST.  397 

**Don't,  maiiss;  please,  do  n't !  Dey '11  kill  Ike, 
an'  I  'm  no  good  no  more  ;  please  do  n't,  mauss  ! " 

The  black  woman  pressed  her  shining  little  one 
more  closely  and  sprang  to  her  ftet  with  a  frightened 
look  in  her  face,  as  if  ready  for  flight.  Low  mutter- 
ing curses  came  from  the  soldiers  around  the  fire,  and 
one  of  the  men  gi'owled  loud  enough  for  the  officers 
to  hear,  "If  I  wore  shoulder-straps,  damned  if  I 
wouldn't  resign  afore  I'd  do  it.  Now  them's  my 
feelings." 

"  I  wish  to  speak  to  you,  captain,"  said  Richardson, 
walking  away  from  the  fire,  his  thin  lips  so  firmly  set 
that  he  seemed  to  speak  with  his  close  white  teeth. 
Robert  followed  him  for  twenty  yards,  when  the  lieu- 
tenant turned,  and,  drawing  himself  up  till  he  looked 
nearly  as  tall  as  Robert,  he  asked  : 

*'  Captain  Warren,  do  you  intend  turning  over  those 
black  people  till  their  rebel  owners  come  to  claim 
them?" 

*'  They  came  into  your  post,  lieutenant ;  it  is  for 
you  to  do  this  thing.  You  know  the  orders  about 
fugitive  slaves  ?  " 

*'  I  do,  sir,  and  I  blush  for  the  cause  in  which  I  am 
engaged." 

**Well,  what  do  you  propose  doing?"  asked  the 
captain. 

Richardson's  voice  trembled  with  indignation  as  he 
said: 

*'  First,  I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  place  those 
people  beyond  the  reach  of  pursuit  if  in  my  power, 
and,  in  the  second  place,  after  we  have  left  the  ene^ 
my's  front  I  intend  resigning  and  tearing  off  the  uni. 
form  of  a  cause  that  Grod  cannot  approve  nor  honest 
34 


S98  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

men  fight  for.  I  will  not  be  made  a  slave-catcher  to 
conciliate  treason." 

"  Lieutenant,  I  feel  our  position  as  keenly  as  you 
can,"  said  the  captain,  taking  Richardson's  hand  in 
his;  "but  I  have  always  carried  out  my  orders  to  the 
letter.  I  have  grown  sick  of  conciliation.  I  will 
help  you  to  get  these  poor  people  to  the  rear,  but  you 
must  not  resign,  Richardson ;  I  have  not  so  many 
friends  that  I  can  afford  to  part  with  you." 

Richardson  returned  the  pressure  of  the  captain's 
hand,  and  the  men  understood  each  other  better. 
When  they  returned  to  the  fire  Archy  was  basy  cook- 
ing coffee,  and  assuring  his  colored  friends  that  the 
captain  "would  do  jes  right,"  and  "not  to  fret  yer 
poor  souls  out  fur  noinn'." 

The  black  man  looked  earnestly  into  Richardson's 
face  as  they  stood  near  the  fire,  and  the  lieutenant, 
anxious  to  relieve  the  suspense  of  the  fugitives,  said  : 

"  Here  is  your  best  friend,  boy,"  pointing  to  Robert. 
"  He  has  given  me  liberty  to  do  as  I  choose  with  you. 
I  will  take  you  back  to  the  Union  camps  and  then 
Bend  you  North,  where  your  rebel  o\Miers  will  never 
go,  except  to  be  despised." 

The  old  man  seized  the  lieutenant's  hand,  and  with 
words  of  homely  gratitude  pressed  it  to  his  lips,  while 
the  young  man  placed  his  arm  about  his  trembling 
wife  as  if  to  support  his  own  weakness,  and  then  down 
the  face  lately  so  rigid  and  detennined  the  hot  tears 
flowed,  while  Archy,  still  busy  with  his  coffee,  stopped 
to  clasp  the  hands  of  his  colored  friends  and  to  im- 
press upon  them  the  necessity  of  "praisin'  de  Lor', 
who  led  de  chillen  wid  de  fiah  by  night." 

The  wind  seemed  less  cold  by  the  picket  post  that 


MURFREESBORO'.  39» 

night,  and  the  gloom  fled  from  the  faces  of  the  men, 
who  by  a  hundred  little  acts  of  kindness  showed  the 
sympathetic  bond  that  unites  in  distress  men  of  every 
land  and  race  and  creed. 

The  expedition  to  McMinnville  resulted  in  a  skir- 
mish and  a  withdrawal  of  the  Union  cavalry  to  the 
main  army  near  Nashville,  where  a  battle  was  daily 
expected  with  Bragg. 

It  was  nearing  Christmas,  a  time  ever  suggestive 
of  happy  homes  and  pleasant  reunions,  but  the  time 
brought  no  rest  to  the  armies  edging  daily  closer 
together  for  the  contest  before  Murfreesboro' .  In 
the  meantime  the  cavalry,  reorganized  under  Stanley, 
checked  the  daring  raids  of  Morgan  and  Wheeler, 
who  hitherto  had  proved  a  serious  annoyance  to  the 
Union  communications. 

December  31  was  a  bright,  beautiful  day;  the  sun 
was  warm  as  an  early  May-day.  Rosecrans  was  ready 
for  the  conflict,  and  his  forces  were  gradually  ad- 
vanced to  Stone  River,  a  little  northwest  of  Murfrees- 
boro', between  which  town  and  the  river  General 
Bragg,  on  ground  of  his  own  choosing,  had  posted  his 
sixty-five  thousand  veterans  under  Breckinridge, 
Polk,  and  Hardee.  Opposed  to  them  were  Critten- 
den, Thomas,  and  McCook,  with  scarcely  fifty  thous- 
and men.  For  days  before  the  front  was  one  con- 
tinued skirmish  line,  and  the  rear  the  scene  of  a 
score  of  well-conducted  raids  under  Wheeler,  Wharton 
and  Morgan.  By  daylight  Hardee  had  started  the 
work  of  slaughter.  Crossing  the  river,  which  was 
fordable  at  every  point,  preceded  by  a  cloud  of  shar|i- 
shooters,  Cleburne  and  Cheatham,  with  eight  brigade^ 
of  infantry,  burst  from  the  jungle  of  cedars  and  oaks 


400  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

before  McCook  had  a  thought  of  their  presence,  and 
before  twenty  minutes  the  right  wing  of  Rosecrans's 
army  was  a  routed  mob.  Johnson's  division  was  lit- 
erally crushed  without  striking  a  blow.  Sheridan  was 
the  first  to  rally  his  men,  and  Davis  quickly  came  to 
his  aid,  but  the  stubborn  courage  of  those  gallant 
men  offered  but  a  temporary  resistance  to  Hardee. 
The  accomplished  Sill  was-  slain  early  in  the  fight, 
and  a  score  of  officers  like  Shaeffer  and  Roberts  were 
wounded  or  slain.  In  the  meantime  the  fighting 
became  general  along  the  front,  and  the  rebels  began 
the  old  game  of  doubling  the  army  back  upon  itself, 
while  their  cavalry  in  swarms  pushed  to  the  rear  of 
McCook  and  Thomas.  It  was  well  that  Thomas  held 
the  ever-unflinching  center;  well  that  Negly  guarded 
his  right,  wdth  the  heroic  Rousseau  at  his  back. 
Between  Negley  and  McCook  the  daring  rebel  Irish- 
man, Pat  Cleburne,  led  his  brigades,  intending  to 
annihilate  the  right,  but  Negley  was  more  than  a  match 
for  him.  With  a  determination  and  valor  that  entitles 
him  to  the  proud  designation  of  "  the  hero  of  Stone 
River,"  he  formed  left  in  front  and  literally  crushed  out 
the  confident  masses  of  the  enemy.  But  Hardee  was  not 
to  be  deterred.  Column  after  column  was  hurled  against 
Negley  till  his  overpowered,  exhauste^t  men  were 
forced  through  the  dense  undergrowth  *o  his  rear, 
and  with  him  the  magnificent  division  of  Rousseau. 
By  twelve  o'clock  the  fate  of  the  Union  aimy  seemed 
sealed,  and  as  at  Shiloh  the  line,  excepting  in  McCook's 
front,  w^as  doubled  up  and  crowded.  More  thaa  this, 
and  worse  than  Shiloh,  four  thousand  well-mouaied 
men  were  actually  on  the  line  of  retreat  to  Nashville, 
destroying  the  Union  trains.     In  the  meantime  Sher- 


THE  CRISIS  OF  THE  BATTLE.  401 

idan  had  gathered  up  his  men,  and  from  an  ammu- 
nition train,  saved  by  tlie  gallant  Captain  Thruston, 
replenished  the  empty  cartridge-boxes.  On  a  good 
position  he  checked  the  rebels,  while  Hazen  and  Has- 
call  routed  the  enemy  to  the  .rear,  and  Hardee  with 
his  veteran  brigade  stood  like  an  impassable  barrier 
to  the  right.  During  the  day  Polk  and  Hardee  made 
desperate  efforts  to  force  back  Thomas,  but  without 
success,  while  Crittenden  and  Breckinridge  thundered 
9tt  each  other  across  the  river. 

The  old  year  went  out  with  promise  of  a  glorious 
victory  to  the  South,  and  of  utter  annihilation  to  the 
arms  of  the  Union.  Seven  thousand  men  were  killed, 
wounded,  or  prisoners,  and  as  many  .more  useless  and 
demoralized.  But  with  the  last  toll  of  the  clock  that 
sounded  the  knell  of  *62  the  shackles  fell  to  the  groimd 
from  four  millions,  of  slaves.  The  time  set  by  Lincoln 
had  expired,  and  the  first  sun  of  '63  saw  the  Union 
banner  the  emblem  of  Union  and  Liberty. 

During  the  night  Rosecrans  drew  back,  shortened 
and  strengthened  his  line,  excepting  the  left,  which 
headed  toward  Murfreesboro',  the  key  of  the  rebel 
position.  The  new  year  came,  and  during  the  day 
the  troops  on  both  sides  fought  for  position,  without 
coming  to  close  quarters.  The  anxiety  and  fatigue 
of  that  second  day  were  even  worse  than  the  first, 
and  during  the  black  night  which  followed,  the  front 
flashed  with  one  continued  blaze  between  the  pickets. 
The  2d  came  and  with  the  early  dawn  the  rebels 
opened  a  fire  so  extended  and  continued  that  it  seemed 
as  if  their  front  were  one  mighty  volcano  that  belched 
and  hurled  out  missiles  of  destruction,  before  which 
fences,  trees,  and  the  very  earth  itself  was  pounded 
34* 


402  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

into  splinters  and  ridges.  Sheridan,  Rousseau,  Thomas, 
and  finally  Crittenden  opened,  and  for  two  terrible 
hours  the  earth  seemed  to  tremble  beneath  the  terri- 
ble blows.  Gradually  the  fire  was  concentrated  on 
Crittenden,  to  the  left  of  whose  line  Captain  Warren 
w^as  stationed.  One  by  one  the  Union  guns  seemed 
to  answer,  and  then  like  magic  the  gray  masses 
rose  from  the  earth,  and,  with  thrilling  yells,  Breck- 
inridge's men,  Roger  Hanson  in  the  advance,  dashed 
into  the  cold  river,  up  the  muddy  banks,  and  out  on 
the  open  fields  beyond  which  Palmer  and  Van  Cleve, 
with  Negley  from  the  right,  met  them.  Then  began 
a  slaughter  unequaled  on  that  bloody  field.  Hanson 
fell  dead  in  the  lead.  Still  on  the  men  came  till 
within  close  range  of  nine  thousand  muskets,  then 
the  gi'ay  lines  melted  and  the  fragments  in  confusion 
rushed  back  to  the  river ;  but  even  here  the  bank  did 
not  save  them.  They  plunged  into  the  water,  but  it 
was  to  find  it  beaten  with  spray  by  the  artillery  of 
Van  Cleve,  and  to  meet  a  more  certain  death  'neath  its 
surface.  In  the  meantime  Wharton,  now  leading  a 
brigade,  had  crossed  the  river  above  and  swept  down 
on  a  train  hurrying  up  to  Palmer.  The  Second  Ten- 
nessee, with  Warren's  battalion,  was  ordered  to  in- 
tercept him,  and  at  a  mad  gallop  they  sped  over  a 
corn-field  and  through  a  cedar  jungle,  where  they 
found  Wharton  in  possession  of  four  wagons.  The 
charge  sounded,  and  charge  they  did,  fighting  hand  to 
hand  around  the  wagons,  which  had  taken  fire  and 
become  equally  dangerous  to  both  sides.  The  rebels 
fell  back,  Warren  rashly  following  them  toward  the 
river,  when  suddenly  a  regiment  of  Wheeler's  men 
rose  from  the  ground.     It  was  too  late  to  turn,  and 


ROBERT  WARREN  WOUNDED.  403 

in  another  instant  Don,  riderless  and  wild,  dashed  into 
the  rebel  lines,  and  Robert  Warren,  with  the  hot 
blood  pouring  from  his  mouth,  and  nose,  and  breast, 
lay  gasping  on  the  muddy  earth,  while  his  routed  men 
fled  back  toward  Van  Cleve. 

It  was  now  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  a  cold,  pelting 
rain  came  driving  over  the  field,  while  the  sound  ©f 
battle  died  out  with  the  day. 

As  Robert  fell  to  the  ground  his  head  struck  against 
a  stone,  and  for  hours  he  lay  insensible.  About  tea 
o'clock  he  revived  and  tried  to  rise,  but  a  choking 
sensation  overcame  him.  A  hard  mass  seemed  to 
stick  in  his  throat  and  stop  his  nostrils  ;  by  a  desperate 
effort  he  coughed  up  the  obstruction.  Then  a  hot 
stream  poured  out  of  his  mouth,  and  with  the  distant 
camp-fires  swimming  in  a  circle  before  his  giddy  sight 
he  fell  fainting  to  the  earth.  It  is  hard  for  a  strong 
man  to  die.  It  is  wonderful,  even  considering  their 
strength,  that  some  of  the  wounded  survived  an  hour, 
and  equally  wonderful,  in  looking  at  some  of  the 
dead  on  the  battle-field,  to  see  how  little  it  took  to 
kill  them.  The  cold  rain  beat  on  Robert  Warren's 
blood-covered  face,  and  he  revived  again  in  the  dark- 
ness, and  placed  his  hand  on  the  open  gash  on  the 
back  of  his  head.  He  tried  to  collect  his  scattered 
senses.  He  fell  in  the  charge.  He  remembered  the 
ambuscade,  and  the  terrible  blow  in  the  right  breast, 
and  the  hot  blood  pouring  from  his  mouth  as  hj  fell 
to  the  ground.  •  He  saw  Richardson  near  him  last,  and 
Don  flying  toward  the  enemy.  He  was  struck ;  and  he 
rose  on  one  arm  and  felt  his  breast.  The  coat  was 
wet  and  clammy  with  clotted  blood.  He  searched 
with  his  cold  fingers  and  felt  the  jagged  hole  so  close 


404  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

to  his  heart,  that  as  he  inserted  his  finger  he  wondered 
that  he  lived.  He  could  not  last  long.  He  managed 
to  open  his  coat  and  thrust  his  hand  inside  the  bloody 
shirt,  and  felt  the  hole  with  fragments  of  his  clothing 
sticking  about  the  wound.  He  was  fearfully  cold  and 
stiff.  Thoughts  of  home  and  Amy,  and  another 
worldly  object,  chased  each  other  through  his  reeling 
brain.  There  were  camp  fires  gleaming  beyond.  He 
could  not  tell  the  direction.  The  enemy  might  be 
there.  But  it  mattered  not,  he  could  leave  his  dying 
requests,  even  with  the  enemy,  and  die  near  their  fire 

Where  was  Archy?  He  managed  to  rise,  but  again 
the  camp-fires  seemed  to  swim  around  him,  and  the 
choking  sensation  came  as  he  tried  to  breathe.  He 
opened  his  mouth  and  gasped,  while  the  cold,  cutting 
air  entered  the  open  wound.  He  took  a  few  steps, 
reeling  like  a  drunken  man,  when  he  stopped  and 
pressed  his  hand  to  his  head.  He  heard  a  voice  near 
him  ;  the  sound  seemed  to  revive  him,  though  it  was 
the  groan  of  a  wounded  man. 

"  Where  are  you?"  he  gasped,  and,  dropping  on  his 
hands  and  knees,  he  crawled  in  the  direction  of  the 
sound. 

"Here,  here,  friend.     Oh,  G-od,  help  me !" 

"I  am  coming,  friend  ;  where 's  your  hand — your 
hand?" 

"  Shattered,  broken.  0,  for  one  drink  of  water !" 
Still  around  Robert's  shoulders  hung  his  double-flasked 
canteen.  He  had  forgotten  that.  There  was  brandy 
in  one  side,  water  in  the  other.  Grroping  in  the 
darkness,  he  reached  the  groaning  man. 

"  Here  is  brandy,  friend,  drink,"  he  said,  holding 
out  the  canteen. 


FRIENDS  IN  DISTRESS.  406 

*'  Oh,  thanks — God  bless  you  !  Put  it  to  my  lips," 
said  the  wounded  man.  Could  it  be  there  was  a  mor- 
tal more  suffering,  more  helpless  than  himself?  Rob- 
ert could  not  raise  the  womided  man's  head,  but  he 
placed  the  canteen  to  his  cold  lips,  and  the  stranger 
drank,  with  a  sigh  of  relief.  Then  Robert,  coughing 
up  the  clotted  blood  which  every  instant  threatened 
to  choke  him,  took  a  mouthful  of  the  brandy,  and  in 
a  few  seconds  his  cold  extremities  began  to  experience 
sensation.  He  lay  down  beside  the  wounded  soldier 
and  asked,  as  he  adjusted  his  head : 

*' Where  are  you  hit,  friend?" 

"  In  the  spine  or  shoulders,  I  do  n't  know  just  which, 
I  cannot  move.  Oh,  God  !  if  I  could  only  sleep  or  die. 
Are  you  wounded?" 

"  Yes,  shot  through  the  breast.  Mustered  out,  I 
fear.     What's  your  regiment  ?" 

"Fifth  Tennessee,  Wheeler.     Have  we  won?*' 

"I  hope  not,  friend;  I'm  a  Yankee.  Take  more 
brandy." 

The  wounded  man  drank  again,  and  as  Robert  re- 
moved the  flask  he  said  : 

"God  bless  you,  friend  !     Take  my  hand  in  yours.'* 

Robert  took  the  hand,  small  as  a  woman's  and 
colder  than  his  own,  in  his. 

' '  I  hate  no  man  ;  I  never  knew  an  enemy  till  the 
war." 

"  Nor  I,  and  God  knows  I  hate  none  for  fighting  me 
bravely,"  said  Robert,  sti-etching  his  stiff  limbs  beside 
the  wounded  Tenneseean. 

For  some  time  both  men  were  quiet,  then  the  stran- 
ger turned  his  head  and  asked  : 

"Friend,  do  you  still  hold  my  hand?" 


406  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"I  do." 

"Grod  bless  you  ;  I  want  some  one  near  me  when 
I  die.     I  have  a  mother." 

"So  have  I,  friend,  a  noble  mother.'* 

The  powerless  hand  of  the  stranger  still  rested  cold 
in  Robert's. 

"Promise  me — but  first  your  name." 

•'My  name  is  Robert  Warren.  I  commanded  a 
battalion  of  scouts  in  the  Union  Army,  but  I  feel  as 
if  I  had  led  them  for  the  last  time." 

**God  forbid,  Grod  forbid,  my  friend;  but  promise 
me,  if  you  live,-  to  have  me  buried  where  my  mother 
can  get  my  body ;  save  some  of  my  hair.  Frazer — 
Franklin " 

The  wounded  man  stopped  talking,  and  Robert 
placed  his  hand  on  his  forehead,  forgetting  for  a  time 
his  own  intense  suffering  and  his  thoughts  of  death. 

"  He  is  dead,"  he  whispered  to  himself. 

**No  ;  dying,  dying.     Tell  Jennie  I  thought  of  her 

and  the  boys,  the  boys "     Again  the  voice,  that 

seemed  to  come  from  a  lifeless  corpse,  ceased,  and  at 
the  same  time  Robert  felt  the  teiTible  choking  sensa- 
tion and  tried  to  rise,  but  he  fell,  with  the  hot  blood 
pouring  from  his  wound,  beside  the  dead  Tennesseean. 

Moments  of  painful  consciousness,  each  growing 
less  distinct,  during  the  long  hours ;  a  burning  thirst, 
which  he  was  too  weak  to  gi'atify,  parched  his  dry 
throat,  where  the  choking  lump  seemed  ever  rising. 

Day  came,  cold,  foggy,  and  rainy.  For  a  time  he 
struggled  to  retain  consciousness,  hoping  for  the  de- 
tails to  pass,  but  gradually  the  hope  and  the  senses 
died  out,  and  Robert  Warren,  with  his  bloody  face 
turned  upward,  lay  beside  the  dead  Tennesseean. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 


THE   FIELD   AFTER    THE    BATTLE. 

Slowly  the  gray  dawn  came  through  the  clouds 
above  and  the  fog  beneath,  revealing  the  mangled 
forms  and  upturned  faces  of  the  dead,  clad  in  blue 
and  gray,  sleeping  so  calmly  side  by  side,  dying  per- 
haps with  such  mutual  words  of  comfort  that  the 
angels  that  carried  them  up  did  not  look  on  them  as 
foes.  Moving  rapidly  through  the  mist,  the  details 
searched  for  the  wounded  that  fearful  morning,  find- 
ing more  often  the  dead.  But  few  wounded  men 
could  survive  that  night  of  cold  and  storm  ;  it  chilled 
the  blood  of  the  most  robust.  So  the  details  with 
their  stretchers  carried  ofif  the  dead.  Now  they  lifted 
from  the  wet  ground  a  slender,  boy-like  form,  with  a 
shattered  arm  dangling  by  his  side,  and  a  pool  of 
black  blood  where  he  lay,  but  no  expression  of  the 
agony  he  had  felt  on  the  smooth,  pale  face  and  blue 
lips.  A  light  load — so  they  lay  the  boy  across  the 
stretcher,  and  pick  up  a  tall,  bearded  man.  His 
head  drops  back  as  they  raise  him,  and  the  white 
bones  glisten  through  the  mangled  tliroat,  where  the 
terrible  grape-shot  crashed.  Back  to  the  trenches, 
called  graves,  the  two  damp-looking  soldiers  walk  with 
their  load,  and  range  them  above  the  pit  for  search 
and  recognition.  The  details  are  swarming  in  the  di- 
rection where  Breckinridge  charged  along  Stone  River 


408  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

with  its  cold,  inky  current  emerging  from  and  rolling 
down  into  the  gray  mist.  There  are  dead  men  lying 
on  the  bloody  stones,  with  the  black  water  laving 
head  or  feet.  In  death  they  are  clinging  to  the  pro- 
truding branches  of  the  skeleton-looking  tree  that 
rises  and  dips  in  the  flood.  But  on  the  muddy,  slippery 
bank,  plowed  into  ridges  by  that  unequaled  artillery 
storm,  and  across  the  corn-field,  beaten  into  mortar 
by  five  thousand  hurrying  feet,  there  are  dead  men  in 
groups,  where  they  rallied  in  line,  where  they  charged, 
and  singly,  close  up  to  the  Union  guns,  carried  there 
by  despfirate  valor.  Still  up  the  river,  near  the  scrub- 
oak  jungle,  there  are  dead  horses  and  blue-clad  forms 
lying  around.  The  details  clear  the  ground  as  they 
advancft.  Two  men  of  the  Eighteenth  Kentucky  are 
approaching  the  ground  where  General  Wharton  at- 
tacked the  wagons,  and  Warren  with  the  Tennesseeans 
charged.  Suddenly  they  are  startled  by  a  cry  that 
sends  the  blood  in  cold  waves  back  to  their  hearts. 
It  comes  from  the  open  space  beyond  the  jungle,  and 
the  two  men  hurry  to  the  spot,  where  a  huge  negro, 
the  very  picture  of  fierce  despair,  sits  on  the  ground^ 
holding  in  his  arms  the  inanimate  form  of  a  tall 
young  soldier.  The  hat  is  off,  the  black  hair  is  lank 
and  bloody,  and  the  upper  teeth  are  driven,  as  if  in 
some  mortal  agony,  or  struggle  with  death,  into  the 
still  clenched,  bleeding  under  lip. 

♦'  Oh,  Grod,  let  me  die  !  Oh,  Mauss  Robut,  my  life, 
my  bi-udder !  speak  to  me.  I'm  Archy  !  Oh,  Lor'  ob 
Israel,  help  me  now !  help  me  !  help  me  !  "  And  the 
black  man  swept  back  the  matted  hair  and  kissed  the 
broad  forehead,  and  rubbed  the  brown,  cold  hands. 

"Hello,  boy!  what's  wrong  here?"  asked  one  of 


WARREN  RESCUED.  409 

the  men  as  they  approached  the  black  man  with  their 
stretcher. 

"  Oh,  come,  quick.  Come,  dis  is  Maiiss  Robut ! 
Captain  Warren  !  Don't  let  him  die.  God '11  bless 
yeh  !     Oh,  don 't  let  Mauss  Robut  die  ! " 

One  of  the  men  placed  his  hand  on  the  pulse,  kneel- 
ing beside  the  body,  and  in  a  sad  voice  said  : 

"  It 's  a  pity  !  I  've  seen  this  man  when  alive,  and  I 
never  looked  on  a  handsomer  horseman." 

"  Oh,  don 't  talk  so.  It  '11  kill  me.  He  ain  't  dead. 
Oh,  carry  him,  tote  him  to  the  doctor's.  I'll  carry 
one  end.  Don 't  let  Mauss  Robut  die  in  de  cold. 
Dar,  he's  bleedin'  now.'* 

As  Archy  spoke,  the  red  cun-ent  began  to  flow 
again  from  the  captain's  mouth,  and  the  soldier 
kneeling  near  him  opened  the  drooping  eyelid,  then 
laying  his  ear  on  the  bloody  coat  above  the  captain 's 
heart,  he  rose  hurriedly,  and  with  an  excited  oatk^ 
said  to  his  companion  : 

"  He's  alive,  Ned.  Off  with  your  coat  and  throw 
it  on  the  stretcher,"  As  the  soldier  spoke,  he  pulled 
off*  his  own  great-coat  and  laying  it  on  Frazer's  dead 
body,  he  and  Archy  lifted  the  captain  on  the  stretcher. 
Then  they  wi'apped  the  great-coat  around  him,  while 
Archy  nearly  denuded  himself  to  cover  up  his  mas- 
ter's breast  and  shoulders.  They  were  about  to  move 
off*  when  Archy  saw  the  captain's  canteen  lying  beside 
the  dead  Confederate,  a  handsome,  gentle-looking 
boy.  He  took  the  canteen  and  poured  a  little  of  the 
brandy  it  still  contained  between  his  master's  lips, 
and  then  bathed  the  gashed  head  with  the  rest,  an 
operation  the  soldiers  said  was  '*  a  good  idea,"  though 
they  mentally  noted  it  a  very  wicked  waste  of  brandy. 
35 


410  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"  Reckon  the  captain  and  that  reb  drank  out  of  the 
same  canteen  last  night.  Bleeding  makes  all  men 
friends.  Some  poor  woman  will  go  sooner  to  her 
grave  for  that  boy,"  pointing  to  Frazer.  "  Ned,  if 
the  captain  gits  well,  I  '11  bet  five  dollars  he  'd  like  to 
know  where  that  boy  's  covered  in." 

Ned  was  of  the  same  opinion,  and  agreed  they 
should  return  to  bury  Frazer  by  himself. 

Archy  did  not  shiver  in  the  cold  rain,  though  with 
only  a  shirt  upon  his  breast  and  shoulders.  He  took 
the  heavy  end  of  the  stretcher,  and  told  the  soldiers, 
"I'll  keer  fur  this,  please  Grod,  if  you  two '11  tote  the 
res',  if  I  've  got  to  walk  all  day." 

About  five  hundred  yards  down  the  river,  near  the 
ruins  of  the  burned  bridge,  they  found  an  ambulance 
with  a  representative  of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  a 
kind-hearted  young  clergj^man.  He  helped  them  to 
take  off  the  wet,  bloody  garments,  and  replaced  them 
with  dry  ones,  shaking  his  head  as  he  did  so,  and 
murmuring  his  fears  that  their  labor  was  useless. 

*'  Oh,  no,  mauss.  Don't  say  dat.  Mauss  Robut  's 
so  good  an'  l.ave.  What'd  de  war  do  if  he  died?" 
and  Archy  bathed  the  head  while  the  young  clergy- 
man applied  some  restoratives.  The  detail  remained 
till  they  saw  the  first  quiver  of  returning  life  on  the 
bloody  lips.  Then  they  donned  their  overcoats,  and 
went  again  to  their  painful  duty. 

The  ambulance  started  back  with  Archy  inside, 
trying,  as  he  knelt,  to  ease  the  jarring  as  they  passed 
over  the  ruts,  and  to  keep  the  covering  around  his 
master's  form.  During  this  ride,  as  he  afteward  ex- 
pressed it,  he  "  had  a  fearful  struggle  wid  de  Lor'  fur 
de  life  ob  Mauss  Robut."     He  supplicated  Heaven  if 


AT  THE  FIELD  HOSPITAL.  411 

a  life  was  necessary  to  take  his,  and  "  spare  de  young 
mauss."  Past  dismounted  guns  and  dismembered 
wagons,  by  long  trenches  with  their  rows  of  dead, 
and  at  last  the  ambulance  stopped  before  a  large  tent, 
inside  of  which  a  number  of  doctors,  covered  with 
blood,  stood  around  an  amputating  table,  looking,  in 
the  misty  light,  like  savage  butchers. 

"  Where  must  I  take  this  man  ?  "  asked  the  driver. 
One  of  the  doctors  stepped  quickly  out,  and,  mount- 
ing the  ambulance,  pushed  Archy  aside,  while  he  cut 
open  the  vest  the  young  clergyman  had  put  on  the 
wounded  man.  He  examined  the  wound,  felt  behind 
for  the  exit  of  the  ball,  listened  to  the  faint  beating 
of  the  heart,  counted  the  languid  pulsations  at  the 
wrist,  and  then,  covering  up  the  terrible  hole  with  the 
blanket,  he  said,  as  he  descended  from  the  ambu- 
lance : 

"  It  does  not  make  much  difference  where  you  go  ; 
that  man  can 't  live.  The  wonder  is  that  he  shows 
any  signs  of  life." 

Archy  was  usually  gentle  as  a  child  in  his  manner, 
but  the  words  of  the  doctor  nettled  him,  and  in  an 
excited  tone  he  put  his  head  out  of  the  ambulance 
and  shouted  after  the  retreating  doctor : 

"  I  do  n't  believe  yeh  know  nothin'  ;  Mauss  Robut 
will  live  in  spite  of  yeh." 

«' What  is  your  master's  name?"  asked  a  doctor, 
who  seemed  to  be  directing  the  operations  inside  the 
tent. 

"Warren,  sah— Captain  Robert  Warren,"  said 
Arcl^y,  in  a  pleading  tone. 

The  doctor  gave  a  few  hurried  instructions  to  those 
baside,  then  sprang  into  the  ambulance,  and,  looking 


412  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

at  the  death-like  face,  in  a  tone  that  won  Archy*s 
heart  he  said : 

*'  Poor  Warren,  they  have  struck  close  to  your  great 
warm  heart." 

Then  he  gave  the  driver  directions,  and,  as  they 
rolled  over  the  ground  to  a  plantation  in  the  distance, 
Archy  told  Doctor  Hatchett  where  he  had  found  his 
master,  and  as  he  concluded  he  took  the  doctor's 
hand  and  said,  in  a  voice  he  always  assumed  when 
praying : 

"  Please  tell  me  he  '11  lib,  doctah !  Jes'  say  so 
once ! " 

*'  I  cannot  promise  that,  boy.  But  he  is  a  strong 
man.  His  pulse  is  improving.  Wonder  he  has  a 
drop  of  blood  left.  By  the  way,  boy,  did  you  know 
Tennessee?'* 

*' Tennessee ! "  echoed  Archy.  "Well,  mauss,  I 
jes'  reckon  I  knowed  Tennessee.  He  wuz  our  frien', 
shuah.     Do  n't  'spose  we'll  eber  see  'im  agin/' 

"  Yes,  boy,  ?/oM  will,  no  doubt,  see  him  again.  I 
would  pronounce  the  captain's  wound  fatal  were  it 
not  for  the  miraculous  recovery  of  that  man  Tennes- 
see." 

**  De  Lor'  is  workin'  miracles  now  as  in  de  days  ob 
de  pillah  ob  fiah,"  said  Archy,  reverently. 

*'Yes,  boy,  without  His  watchful  care  I  fear  it 
would  be  dark  indeed." 

As  the  doctor  ceased  speaking  the  ambulance 
stopped  before  a  large  house,  on  the  gallery  of  which 
a  number  of  officers,  with  arms  in  slings  or  wounded 
about  the  head,  were  lamenting  the  noble  Sill  and 
chivalrous  Garasch^.  They  gathered  to  see  the  new 
arrival,  and  an  assistant  came  with  a  stretcher  to  help 


PROBING  FCR  THE  BALL.  413 

Archy  in  with  the  body.  There  were  kind  words  and 
expressions  of  sorrow  from  the  soldiers,  who  for  the 
time  forgot  their  own  wounds. 

*'He  got  it  in  front,"  said  one. 

"  Wonder  he  did  n't  die  on  the  field  last  night.  It 
makes  me  shiver  to  think  how  he  suffered,"  said  an- 
other ;  while  a  third,  looking  for  an  instant  at  the  face, 
said : 

*'By  Heaven,  men,  that's  Warren.  That's  the 
chap  I  spoke  about.  It  made  my  hair  rise  to  see  him 
fly  at  those  Texans.  I  saw  him  fall,  and  I  believe 
that 's  all  I  did  see  afterwards." 

*'  You  got  knocked  about  that  time,  eh,  cap?"  said 
a  comrade,  laughing  and  looking  at  the  bandaged 
head  of  his  friend. 

"  Yes,  I  saw  more  stars  in  daylight  than  if  I  had 
a  couple  of  Ross's  telescopes  to  my  eyes." 

In  the  meantime  Robert  was  carried  into  a  room 
and  placed  upon  a  clean  cot.  The  doctor  gave  direc- 
tions in  such  a  way  that  their  execution  followed  at 
once.  Archy  and  an  assistant  bathed  the  limbs  in 
warm  water,  while  the  doctor  forced  some  fluid  b«. 
tween  the  teeth,  and  after  that  the  wounded  man 
made  an  effort  at  swallowing.  Then  the  wound  in 
the  head  w^as  dressed  and  the  black  hair  cut  close. 

"There  is  no  use  in  probing  for  that  ball  at  present," 
said  Doctor  Hatchett.  "We  must  stimulate  him 
first."  This  was  said  after  the  doctor  had  inserted  a 
probe  so  deep  that  Archy  turned  aside  and  groaned 
as  if  the  instrument  had  been  buried  in  his  own  breast. 
Indeed,  had  it  been,  the  pain  would  have  been  easier 
to  bear.. 

The   doctor,  giving  instructions   to   the   assistant 


414  WARR£N  OF  TEXAS. 

surgeon  in  charge  of  the  building,  left,  promising  to 
return  in  a  few  hours.  Archy  could  not  resist  say- 
ing: 

"May  de  God  ob  Israel  bless  dat  'ar  doctah." 
Then  he  sat  bathing  the  feet  and  moistening  the 
cloths  upon  his  master's  breast,  watching  every  quiver 
of  the  eyelid,  counting  every  breath,  and  at  times 
laying  his  hand  on  the  wrist,  though  in  utter  ignorance 
of  the  pulse,  as  if  the  act  had  some  healing  power. 

Toward  noon  the  painful  breathing  and  gaspii>g 
increased  in  strength,  and  by  the  time  the  doctor 
returned  the  captain  began  to  mutter,  at  first  indis- 
tinctly. At  last,  in  a  painful  whisper,  he  called, 
"Archy!  Archy!  " 

"  Yes,  yes,  Mauss  Robut,'*  said  the  kind  fellow, 
bending  in  anxiety  beside  the  cot. 

"  It  was  n't  Don's  fault,  Archy." 

"  No,  Mauss  Robut ;  it  wtiz  de  rebels." 

The  captain  muttered  again  for  a  few  minutes,  then 
he  articulated : 

"  Richardson,  bury  Frazer.  Poor  fellow  !  his  mother. 
My  poor  mother !" 

In  the  afternoon  they  carried  the  cot  near  the  light, 
and  Archy  became  nervous  as  he  saw  the  array  of 
glistening  probes  and  long,  keen  knives  the  doctor 
unpacked. 

"  You  must  leave  the  room,  boy,  till  we  have  dressed 
this  wound,"  said  Doctor  Hatchett,  looking  into  Archy's 
troubled  face. 

"  Please  led  me  stay,  mauss.  I  *11  say  noffin'.  He  *d 
led  me  if  he  knowed,"  pleaded  Archy,  pointing  to  his 
master. 

*'  I  would  let  you  remain,  but  I  am  afraid  you  may 


SURGICAL  SKILL  BAFFLED.  415 

get  noisy,"  said  the  doctor,  still  sorting  his  instru- 
ments and  arranging  plaster  and  bandages. 

"  I  '11  be  quiet  as  a  chile,"  said  Archy. 

The  doctor  smiled.  "  You  may  stay,  boy,  but  if 
you  make  one-tenth  the  noise  my  children  do  some- 
times you  '11  go." 

"  Yes,  mauss,  out  I  '11  go,"  repeated  Archy  in  his 
anxious,  softened  voice. 

With  a  steady  hand  the  doctor  cleaned  out  the  path 
of  the  bullet — pieces  of  clothing,  torn  flesh,  and  frag- 
ments of  bone — nodding  to  his  attendant  at  times,  who 
in  response  to  the  signal  would  pour  some  stimulant  into 
the  wounded  man's  mouth.  After  working  with  an 
anxious  face  for  some  time  the  doctor  stopped  with 
the  long,  shining  probe  buried  in  the  wound,  and  said ; 

"  Doctor  Newton,  just  feel  that :  the  ball  is  flattened 
and  fast  to  the  ribs.  It  will  be  impossible  to  cut  it 
there  and  withdraw  it.  The  orifice  is  too  small  to  do 
it  without." 

Doctor  Newton  sounded,  placing  his  hand  under 
the  captain's  shoulder,  and  soon  came  to  the  same 
conclusion. 

"It  might  have  been  extracted  last  night,  but  I 
think  the  lung  is  not  in  condition  now,' 

"  Please  tell  me,  doctah,  Mauss  Robert  ain't  a-goin' 
to  die." 

"Here,  didn't  you  promise  to  make  no  noise,"  said 
the  doctor. 

' '  Yes,  sah,  I  '11  be  still ;  I  '11  say  noffin',"  said  Archy, 
struggling  to  keep  down  the  tears. 

The  wound  was  dressed,  and  the  captain's  cot  moved 
back  to  the  corner.  His  breathing  seemed  easier,  and 
the  expression  of  pain  gradually  passed  away  from  his 


416  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

face.  The  doctor  had  Archy  provided  for,  and  giving 
him  the  captain's  time-piece,  he  told  him  to  watch  for 
three  hours,  and  to  call  Doctor  Newton  if  the  captain 
seemed  uneasy.  After  the  three  hours,  Archy,  who 
had  been  up  all  the  previous  night,  was  to  have  some 
rest. 

Poor  fellow,  he  was  not  conscious  of  fatigue  or  hun- 
ger. His  whole  soul  was  absorbed  in  watching  the 
ashy  face  of  his  master,  and  had  Doctor  Newton  been 
called  every  time  Archy  felt  like  doing  so,  the  young 
surgeon  would  have  been  busy  running  in  and  out  all 
the  time. 

Four  days  passed,  the  captain  showing  occasional 
moments  of  consciousness.  Night  and  day  Archy 
remained  by  the  cot  watching  every  motion,  and  fly- 
ing to  execute  every  command  that  affected  his  mas- 
ter. Doctor  Hatchett  and  his  assistant  were  constant 
in  their  attentions,  fanning  the  feeble  flame  of  life 
through  the  long  anxious  nights,  and  guarding  against 
the  fever  they  dreaded. 

Doctor  Hatchett  came  in  the  fifth  morning,  looking 
very  pale  from  some  cause  other  than  his  labors ; 
Archy  heard  him  whisper  in  the  hall  to  Doctor  New- 
ton : 

*'  We  must  send  back  all  able  to  bear  transportation, 
as  the  gangrene  is  spreading." 

Archy' s  eyes  expanded,  and  he  drew  a  long  breath 
as  he  whispered  to  himself,  wonderingly,  "De  gan- 
gring!  some  ob  Wharton's  men,  I  reckon." 

Something  more  terrible,  more  dreaded  than  Whar- 
ton's men  was  coming  to  the  camp.  It  came  to  many 
a  cot  in  the  dead  of  night,  where  the  soldier  lay  suf- 
fering with  mangled  limb,  or  torn  breast,  or  gashed 


FEELING  BEFORE  THE  GANGRENE.  417 

head,  and  suddenly  this  child  of  death,  gangrene, 
seized  in  its  slimy  hands  the  fevered  scar,  and  at  the 
cold  touch  the  fever  and  the  pain  fled,  and  the  strong 
men  sighed  in  very  comfort,  and  sat  up  with  smiling 
faces,  and  joked  about  their  condition,  and  exchanged 
congratulations  at  feeling  so  well.  Deeper  into  the 
limb  the  painless  scar  sank,  over  a  wider  space  of 
breast  the  bullet-hole  stretched,  nearer  to  the  brain 
the  scalp  wound  deepened,  and  the  men  wondered  at 
the  alarmed  faces  of  the  surgeons,  growled  at  the 
burning  caustics  that  brought  back  more  than  the  old 
pain,  and  felt  easy  when  the  burning  ceased,  and  the 
cold,  slimy  hand  grasped  nearer  the  vitals.  At  last 
it  seized  in  the  midnight  an  artery  in  the  limb,  and 
the  soldier  sank  clamly  to  sleep.  The  cold  hand 
touched  the  heart  and  chilled  it — passed  through 
the  fracture  in  the  scalp,  and  gangrene  surrendered 
its  victims  to  its  father.  Death. 

"  I  think,"  said  Doctor  Newton,  "we  can  get  all  off 
excepting  Captain  Warren.  It  would  be  very  danger- 
ous to  move  him  now." 

**It  would  be  more  dangerous  to  let  him  remain^ 
We  must  start  him  back  to  Nashville  this  very  day," 
said  Dr.  Hatchett,  walking  into  the  room  where  the 
captain,  pale  and  breathing  with  so  much  difficulty, 
lay. 

The  doctor  was  in  earnest,  and  that  afternoon  he 
secured  a  detail  of  strong  fellows  to  carry  the  captain 
to  Nashville,  fearing  to  trust  him  to  the  jolting  of  an 
ambulance.  Doctor  Newton  accompanied  the  captain 
to  Nashville,  stopping  at  times  for  days  at  one  of  the 
many  extemporized  hospitals  along  the  road.  Don 
would  have  galloped  the  distance  between  Stone  River 


418  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

and  Nashville  in  a  few  hours ;  it  took  one  week  to 
carry  the  captain  there.  Nashville  was  filled  with 
wounded,  though  many  able  to  bear  transportation 
were  sent  North.  Doctor  Hatchett  was  in  Nashville 
by  the  time  the  captain  reached  there,  and  had  made 
arrangements  to  receive  him  in  a  private  house. 

Long  days  of  fear  and  doubt  rolled  past,  with  faint 
flickerings  of  reason — an  ebb  and  flow  of  strength. 
The  captain  lay  unconscious  in  the  white  cot,  heed- 
ing not  the  soft  footsteps,  feeling  not  the  gentle  hand 
which  smoothed  his  pillow  and  ministered  to  his  wants. 
Archy  was  ever  near  him,  a  look  of  quiet  satisfaction 
on  his  face  as  he  watched  the  graceful  form  of  the 
young  woman  moving  noiselessly  around  his  master's 
bed  like  an  angel  unwearied  in  doing  good. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem  the  wound  from  which  the 
captain  suffered  most  was  the  cut  in  his  head  received 
in  falling  from  his  horse.  A  consultation  disclosed 
the  fact  that  the  skull  was  injured,  and  an  operation 
followed  w^hich  relieved  the  pressure  on  the  brain, 
and  Robert  Warren  woke  to  the  world,  and  remem- 
bered only  between  his  fall  and  his  waking  that  cold 
night  of  rain  and  fog  and  sleet,  when  young  Frazer 
died  by  his  side,  calling  him  friend. 

The  doctors  announced  to  Archy  and  the  young 
nurse  the  return  of  reason,  and  while  they  permitted 
Archy  to  enter  at  will,  they  enjoined  on  the  pale  girl 
that  she  must  only  see  the  patient  when  he  slept,  and 
under  no  temptation  to  speak  while  in  the  captain's 
room. 

As  Archy  entered,  shortly  after  the  doctors  left,  he 
saw  a  smile  on  his  master's  face,  and  the  once  pow- 
erful hand,  now  so  white  and  thin,  was  extended. 


THE  SISTER  NURSE.  419 

"How  are  you,  Archy,  old  boy?  Sit  down.  How 
did  I  get  here  ?" 

Arehy  took  the  poor  hand  between  his  own,  and 
while  tears  of  joy  streamed  down  his  face  he  said,  in 
a  voice  as  low  and  tender  as  a  pure  woman's : 

"  Tank  de  good  Lor',  Mauss  Robut.  Sing  praises 
to  His  name,  fur  yeh  's  agwine  to  lib  again." 

"  Well,  Archy,  I  can't  sing,  but  surely  I  have  not 
been  dead  for  any  time,  have  I  ?" 

Archy  became  more  serious  as  hcTemembered  the 
doctors'  censure  about  talkinsf, 

"Stop,  Mauss  Robut,  yeh  mus n't  say anodderword. 
Yeh  's  got  to  hush  right  up.  Tank  de  Lor'  ob  Israel, 
yeh 's  a  libin'.  Dar,  do  n't  yeh  move  ;  can't  'low  dat, 
no  how.  Yeh  've  got  to  sleep,  an'  may  de  Lor'  an'  de 
angels  guard  yeh  wid  dar  shaddery  wings." 

The  captain  closed  his  eyes  and  turned  his  face  on 
the  pillow,  while  his  heart,  filled  with  a  brother's  love 
for  the  brave  man  by  his  side,  could  not  hold  back 
the  tears  that  rose  up  and  flowed  quietly  and  unob- 
served by  the  black  down  the  pale  face. 

A  few  days  afterward,  as  the  captain  lay  in  a  semi- 
conscious state,  peculiar  to  invalids,  his  eyes  slightly 
open,  he  felt  a  gentle  hand  on  his  forehead,  and  again 
and  again  a  soft  cheek  pressed  his.  He  could  not 
rouse  himself,  but  as  the  slender  form,  like  a  lost  sun- 
beam, moved  about  the  darkened  room,  his  uncertain 
gaze  followed  it.  He  tried  to  remember  where  he 
had  seen  her,  and  as  she  bowed  her  beautiful  head  to 
speak  to  Archy  sitting  on  the  foot  of  the  bed,  he 
recognized  the  voice  and  heard  the  very  words  : 

"  Archy,  you  must  call  on  Lieutenant  Richardson 
with  my  compliments.     Tell  him  his  present  of  fruit 


420  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

and  flowers  was  most  acceptable,  and  that  I  am  very 
sorry  that  brother  Piobert  is  not  strong  enough  to  see 
him  for  a  few  days." 

"  I '  11  go  right  off,  Miss  Mary,"  said  Archy,  rising, 
a  look  of  devotion  on  his  black  face  as  he  turned  it 
toward  the  girl. 

The  stupor  fled ;  the  eyes  of  the  wounded  soldier 
opened  wide,  and  they  drank  in  with  rapture  the 
vision  before  them. 

"  My  sister — my  brave  little  Mary  !" 

She  heard  him,  and  her  yearning  heart,  that  had 
longed  so  much  for  a  word  of  recognition,  leaped  with 
joy,  and,  forgetting  the  sage  advice  of  the  men  of 
science,  her  white  arms  were  around  her  brother  and 
the  happiest  tears  ever  shed  fell  on  Robert  Warren's 
face. 

"  Oh,  Robert !  My  own  brave,  noble  brother.  God 
knows  this  moment  repays  me  for  all,"  she  murmured 
as  she  laid  her  arm  so  gently  across  the  bullet-scarred 
breast. 

Robert  raised  the  pale,  sweet  face  and  looked  on  it 
till  his  eyes  were  feasted  and  his  heart  was  glad. 
Then  he  kissed  her  again,  as  he  said : 

**  And  my  little  sister  is  living  after  all.  And  she 
did  not  die  in  prison  ?  " 

*'No,  brother  Robert.  I  left  home  to  nurse  you, 
and  I  am  rewarded." 

"I  do  n't  feel  the  animosity  I  did  to  Wheeler's 
men  after  all  for  wounding  me " 

The  captain  would  have  gone  on  speaking,  but  at 
this  moment  Doctor  Newton  entered  the  room,  and 
in  a  tone  of  much  severity  said : 

"  Miss  Warren,  this  conduct  is  unpardonable.   What 


ROBERT  HIMSELF  AGAIN.  421 

will  my  brother-in-law,  the  lieutenant,  say  ?  There, 
you  may  kiss  the  captain  once  more,  and  then  I  will 
let  you  go." 

The  doctor  held  up  a  warning  finger,  and  Mary,  her 
face  glowing  with  happiness,  left  the  room. 

Though  the  doctor  had  been  with  Robert  every  day 
for  two  weeks,  he  had  to  introduce  himself  as  a  man 
he  had  met  for  the  first  time. 

It  was  a  time  of  wonders  and  miracles,  when  no 
event,  no  matter  how  extraordinary,  surprised  men, 
and  no  cure  was  attributed  to  mere  surgical  skill. 
Captain  Warren  had  seen  enough  of  war  to  be  pre- 
pared for  any  circumstance  that  might  surround  him. 
He  was  not  astonished  to  know  that  Doctor  Newton 
had  attended  him  under  the  advice  of  Doctor  Hatchett 
for  two  weeks.  Had  it  been  two  months  or  two  years 
ii  would  not  have  created  wonder,  for  he  had  known 
of  things  more  extraordinary,  and  before  his  wound 
he  had  lived  for  nearly  two  years  surrounded  by  scenes 
more  calculated  to  create  surprise.  He  loved  the 
cool,  brave  Richardson,  the  man  who  knew  nothing 
beyond  duty  and  obedience,  who  lived  for  the  one 
object  of  country,  and  who  valued  his  life  as  nothing 
to  accomplish  his  purpose.  He  felt  a  thrill  of  pride 
when  he  learned  from  Doctor  Newton  that  the  daring 
lieutenant  had  been  shot  down  in  the  vain  effort  to 
recover  the  body  of  his  leader,  Captain  Warren,  and 
he  consoled  himself  with  the  thought  that  he  would 
have  done  the  same  to  save  Richardson  were  he  in 
danger  during  that  terrible  battle  of  Stone  River. 
Men  soon  learn  what  they  would  do  for  a  friend,  and 
the  acts  of  that  friend  may  arouse  gratitude,  but  not 
surnrise.  The  captain  was  sorry  to  hear  of  the  broken 
36 


422  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

leg  and  the  death  of  Richardson's  favorite  horse,  but 
he  forgot  all  about  himself  in  the  thought  that  Rich- 
ardson suffered  in  the  line  of  duty.  Duty!  Ho^f 
soon  a  soldier  learns  that  name,  looking  upon  it  as  a 
synonym  for  friendship,  courage,  honor,  and  patriot- 
ism, forgetting  in  its  very  name  the  impulse  that 
made  himself  to  be  a  soldier. 

Robert  listened  with  delight  to  Doctor  Newton's 
praise  of  his  sister.  He  could  not  say  enough  in 
commendation  of  the  noble  girl,  and  he  encouraged 
him  to  dwell  on  a  subject  so  gratifying. 

The  doctor  was  mysterious,  not  in  a  professional 
sense,  for  he  knew  Captain  Warren  cared  not  a  fig  for 
that  gi-eat  person,  Death — men  soon  grow  familiar 
with  cross-bones  and  skull — ^but  he  alluded  to  Lieu- 
tenant Richardson  in  a  way  that  brought  up  long-for- 
gotten incidents  to  the  mind  of  the  wounded  man — 
days  of  peace  and  quiet,  when  returning  from  the 
hunt,  he  had  seen  Mary  on  the  gallery  sitting  close  to 
one  whom  he  then  loved,  but  since  despised ;  and  he 
contrasted  the  tall,  handsome  rebel  with  the  cool, 
polished  Richardson,  the  man  of  principle  and  duty — 
the  soldier  who  dared  to  do  what  his  conscience 
taught  him  was  right. 

No  men  reason  like  soldiers.  War  sharpens  every 
faculty,  and  as  Robert  "Warren  turned  his  gashed  head» 
and  felt  the  heavy  incubus  on  his  once  powerful  heart, 
he  forgot  wounds  and  pain,  and  saw  his  sister  under 
the  influence  of  Richardson.  He  did  not  need  the 
:50ft  words  of  the  good  doctor ;  ihstinctively  he  imder- 
stood  the  situation. 

The  doctor  left,  congi-atulating  the  captain  on  his 
wonderful  recovery  and  promising  to  call  early  on  the 
moiTow. 


ARCHY  AND  ROBERT.  423 

The  morrow  came,  with  the  doctor  near  the  cap- 
tain, accompanied  by  Surgeon  Hatchett,  whom  Eobert 
at  once  gratefully  recognized,  and  Mary,  sitting  at  the 
head  of  the  bed  with  the  once  strong  hand  sand- 
wiched between  her  own,  so  soft  and  womanly. 

Doctor  Hatchett  was  more  impulsive  than  Newton 
who  imitated  the  cool  Richardson.  He  felt  the  danger 
was  over,  and,  after  pressing  Robert's  hand,  he  began 
de  novo  and  gave  him  a  graphic  sketch  of  his  own 
sufferings — something  Robert  was  blissfully  ignorant 
of— and  he  closed  with  a  record  of  Archy's  fidelity 
and  patience  which  induced  the  captain  to  call  for 
that  worthy  at  once. 

As  boys  they  had  played  and  fought  together.  As 
youths  they  had  hunted  between  the  Brazos  and  Col- 
orado. As  men  they  had  dared  to  do  right,  and  had 
suffered  together.  As  a  lad,  Archy  used  to  call  his 
young  master  "  Mauss  Bob,"  but  after  Robert  returned 
from  college  in  the  North,  the  black  man  was  more 
reserved,  and  used  the  early  name  only  on  important 
occasions. 

As  Archy  entered  the  room  where  the  doctors  and 
his  young  mistress  were,  near  the  bed  of  his  master, 
he  forgot  all  the  intervening  time  between  youth  and 
manhood,  and,  rushing  to  the  bed,  he  ejaculated  as 
he  knelt  beside  it : 

"  'Fore  Heaven,  Mauss  Bob,  I 's  mor  'n  glad  yeh  's 
all  right  agin." 

Robert  took  one  of  Archy's  hands,  and,  with  a 
shadow  of  the  old  smile  on  his  pale,  thin  face,  replied : 

"I  am  equally  glad  to  see  you,  Archy.  Last  night 
I  did  not  think  I  would  ever  see  a  friend  m  this  world 
again." 


424  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"Not  las' night,  I  reckon,  mauss,"  said  Archy , 
las'  night  yeh  wuz  heah  in  de  bed  as  quiet  as  a  lamb. 
Why,  it's  mor'n  two  weeks  since  de  battle." 

*  *  Two  weeks — two  weeks  ! "  Robert  was  going  on 
in  wonder,  but  Archy  stopped  him : 

"  Dar,  dar,  not  one  odder  word  ;  de  doctah  says  yeh 
mustn't  speak.  Got  to  min'  de  doctah.  Tank  de 
Lor',  yeh  's  all  squar  agin." 

•*  It  won't  hurt  me  to  hear  you  talk,  Archy.  Tell 
nie  all  about  Mary,  and  how  I  cdme  here,"  said 
Robert,  closing  his  eyes,  the  better  to  catch  every 
expected  word  and  as  a  sort  of  half  promise  that  he 
would  not  talk  again. 

**  Wall,  mauss,  dunno  ez  I  kin  tell  yeh  all.  Ain't 
got  time  nohow.     Got  to  go  see  Mauss  Richadson." 

"  Lieutenant  Richardson ! "  exclaimed  Robert. 
*'Why,  where  is  he?"     What  is  wrong  with  him?" 

"Dar,  yeh  mus'  not  say  no  more.  Why,  Mauss 
Richadson  's  got  a  ball  in  de  right  leg.  Gittin'  on 
fuss  rate.  He  tole  me  whar  yeh  wuz  dat  night,  an* 
de  Lor*  knows  ef  I  did  n't  sarch  an'  hunt  fur  yeh. 
Par's  no  kinder  use  talkin'.  It  rained.  Oh  mighty, 
but  it  wuz  cold  an'  rainy.  Did  n't  'spec  to  see  yeh 
alive.  An'  when  I  foun'  yeh,  'bout  daylight,  yeh 
looked  ez  if  yeh  'd  bled  all  out.  I  wuz  goin'  to  pick 
yeh  up  an'  tote  yeh  off,  but  I  did  n't  know  whar  yeh 
wuz  woun'ed,  an'  I  did  n't  want  ter  hurt  yeh.*' 

"  But  you  could  not  have  hurt  me,  Archy,  if  I  was 
dead?" 

"Dat's  true,  Mauss  Robut ;  but  I  'pealed  to  de 
Lor',  an'  I  kind  o'  heerd  a  voice  savin'  yeh  wuz  n't 
(lead,  ez  de  good  book  says,  but  sleepin'.  Den  I  jes' 
hollered,  an'  some  sojers  kum  up  an*  we  toted  yeh 


BROTHER  AND  SISTER.  425 

I 
off.  I  neber  felt  so  strong  in  my  life  ez  when  1  wuz 
a  holdin'  on  to  dat  'ar  stretcher." 

"  Well,  Archy,  you  have  been  my  guardian  angel 
again,"  said  Robert,'  his  eyes  still  closed. 

*'No,  mauss,  de  good  Lor'  sent  an  angel  ob  light 
to  de  fiel'  an'  guided  me  whar  yeh  wuz.  Now  do  n't 
talk  no  more.   Doctah  Newton  says  yeh  mus  n't  talk.'* 

"But  who  is  Doctor  Newton,  Archy?" 

*•  Why,  Mauss  Robut,  he  *s  Mauss  Richadson's 
brudder  by  a  marryin'  ob  his  sister?" 

*•  Whose  sister,  Archy  ?  " 

"Why,  Mauss  Richadson's," 

•'I  know,  but  who  married  her?" 

Archy  looked  down  and  saw  a  smile  on  his  master's 
face,  which  was  communicated  to  his  own  as  he  rose 
and  said : 

*•  Yeh 's  jes'  a  foolin'  of  me.  'Clare  to  Massy,  I 
won't  say  one  odder  word." 

Robert  was  very  anxious  to  have  a  long  conversa- 
tion with  his  sister,  but  the  doctor  was  inexorable. 
He  promised,  however,  to  let  the  captain  talk  for  a 
short  time  with  Miss  Warren  the  next  day,  provided 
he  remained  perfectly  quiet  for  the  present.  This 
Robert  with  a  more  than  child-like  docility  promised 
to  do,  while  he  mentally  objected  to  the  medical  dis- 
cipline. Still  he  felt  easier  and  happier,  despite  his 
wounds,  than  he  had  done  for  a  long  time,  and  in  his 
dreams  the  slender,  girlish  form  seemed  by  his  side, 
as  she  was  in  fact. 

At  ten  o'clock  next  morning  the  doctor,  after  dressing 
Robert's  wounds,  pronounced  him  very  much  better, 
and,  leading  Mary  to  the  side  of  the  cot,  he  made  her 
promise  to  do  all  the  talking  and  left. 


426  WABREN  OF  TEXAS. 

**  I  am  very  happy  to  have  you  here,  little  sister," 
said  Robert,  taking  her  hand  i»  his  as  she  sat  on  the 
low  camp-stool  beside  him.  "  Come,  tell  me  all  about 
yourself  since  we  parted.  I  ha^fe  been  mourning  you 
as  dead." 

"  I  would  have  been,  brother,  had  I  depended  on 
my  own  poor  strength  for  support.  Before  I  left 
home  I  did  not  dream  that  I  could  have  endured  what 
lay  before  me,  and  yet,  after  more  than  a  year  of 
watching  for  you,  here  I  am,  strong,  healthy,  and 
happy,  sad  only  at  your  sufferings  and  the  troubles  of 
the  dear  ones  at  home."  Mary  laid  her  hand  on 
Bobert's  forehead  as  she  spoke,  and  looked  into 
his  gray  eyes  with  such  a  swee't,  happy  face  that  he 
felt  a  lump  in  his  throat  and  a  moisture  about  his  eyes, 
and  he  closed  them  to  hide  the  evidences  of  his  hap- 
piness. 

"Go  on,  sister,"  he  murmured,  pressing  her  hand. 
*'  I  am  very  happy.     Tell  me  all  about  yourself." 

Then  Mary,  in  a  low,  soft  voice,  that  came  like 
music  from  above  to  the  wounded  man,  began  the 
story  already  familiar  to  the  reader.  But  over  the 
parts  where  she  was  most  conspicuous  she  suppressed 
the  narration  of  her  own  sufferings  ;  but  Kobert  knew 
her,  and  sighed  as  in  imagination  he  saw  the  gentle 
girl,  so  unused  to  the  world,  suffering  as  she  must 
have  done.  He  knew  pretty  well  her  story  down  to 
her  imprisonment  at  Nashville,  and  as  she  came  to 
that  part  his  hold  on  her  hand  tightened  and  he  turned 
his  head  the  better  to  catch  her  words. 

"  I  felt  very  sorry  for  poor  Tom.  Henderson  Town- 
send  carried  him  off,  and  I  presume  he  is  with  him 
now." 


FRAZER.  4»7 

«*  Never  mind  about  Tom,  sister ;  tell  me  only  about 
yourself." 

"  I  felt  so  conscious  of  no  intention  to  do  wrong 
that  I  did  not  dread  the  result.  It  was  the  order  of 
the  provost  marshal  to  put  me  in  jail,  but  the  lieu, 
tenant  was  a  kind,  good  man — poor  fellow,  he  died 
here  in  hospital  a  few  days  ago.  He  was  wounded  at 
Stone  Eiver,  and  I  nursed  him  till  he  passed  away. 
Well,  the  lieutenant  found  the  jail  was  full,  and  got 
permission  to  take  me  to  a  private  family,  the  Frazers, 
relatives  of  his,  where  I  was  to  remain  to  await  my 
trial.  The  people  were  Confederates,  but  exceedingly 
good  and  kind,  and  so  honest  in  their  convictions  that 
while  their  thoughtfulness  won  my  heart  their  senti- 
ments on  the  war  had  my  respect,  I  was  with  this 
kind  family  at  Nashville  for  nearly  eight  weeks,  when 
the  news^came  of  the  taking  of  Fort  Donelson.  I  was 
still  untried,  and  knew  not  how  to  act.  Mrs.  Frazer 
thought  it  would  be  very  dangerous  for  me  to  remain 
behind  till  the  Federal  troops,  as  she  called  them, 
came  in,  and  her  family  decided  to  move  down  to 
Columbia  at  once.  I  was  so  utterly  alone  and  help- 
less that  I  determined  to  remain  for  the  present  with 
the  Frazers,  hoping  an  opportunity  might  present 
itself  of  getting  into  Kentucky  or  communicating  with 
you.  Lieutenant  Charles  Frazer,  of  the  Fifth  Ten- 
nessee Cavalry,  was  a  very  fine  young  gentleman,  and 
he  carried  at  different  times  a  half-dozen  letters  and 
left  them  in  post-offices  where  they  might  reach  you, 
but  I  presume  you  never  got  them  ?  " 

"  Never,"  said  Robert,  while  he  muttered,  as  if  to 
remind  himself:  "Frazer — Frazer — Columbia — Fifth 
Tennessee  !     With  Wheeler — Mary." 


428  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"Yes,  brother." 

"  It  seems  like  a  temble  dream — the  sufferings  of 
that  night  when  I  lay  wounded  on  the  field.  T  heard 
a  man  groan  near  me  and  I  crawled  to  his  side.  He 
was  wounded  and  dying.  His  name  was  Frazer,  of 
the  Fifth  Tennessee.  He  must  have  been  young,  for 
he  had  no  beard.  I  gave  him  a  drink,  and  he  died 
beside  me  asking  me  to  take  a  message  to  his  friends 
at  Columbia.     Poor  boy,  he  was  your  friend." 

"  He  was,  Robert,"  and  Mary  bowed  her  head,  and 
when  again  she  raised  it,  her  long  lashes  sparkled  with 
tears  of  sorrow  for  the  brave  young  Tennesseean. 

"  Go  on,  sister.     Tell  me  the  rest." 

Mary  continued : 

*'  I  remained  with  the  Frazers  during  the  spring 
and  summer.  Columbia  was  sometimes  occupied  by 
Union  troops,  sometimes  by  Confederates.  Mr. 
Frazer  had  a  place  out  of  town,  which  was  seldom 
visited  by  the  soldiers  of  either  side,  but  when  I  saw 
the  Union  troops  I  inquired  for  you,  but  could  learn 
nothing  about  you.  I  busied  myself  in  the  meantime 
sewing  and  caring  for  the  wounded  of  each  side.  One 
day,  after  Buell  and  Bragg  passed  south,  Iliad  a  con- 
versation with  Doctor  Newton,  in  Columbia.  He  was 
a  Union  surgeon,  and  told  me  if  I  went  on  to  Nash- 
ville, he  would  secure  me  a  position  as  nurse  in  one 
of  the  hospitals,  and  at  the  same  time  he  would  do 
all  in  his  power  to  find  you.  I  came  on  here  and  with 
all  my  strength  I  have  worked  to  relieve  the  brave 
men  who  have  been  fighting  with  you.  Still  I  tried 
to  find  you.  I  heard  from  a  soldier  that  he  had  seeu 
you  at  Perryville,  but  that  being  in  the  cavalry  it 
would  be  hard  to  find  you.     About  ten  days  ago,  as  I 


A  LOYE  AFFAIR.  429 

was  going  to  church,  you  may  imagine  my  joy  and 
surprise    to   see  Archy  coming  directly  toward   me. 
Poor  fellow,  he  w^as  but  a  shadow  of  himself,  and  he 
was  so  delighted,  I  actually  thought  he  would  go 
wild.     Now  it  seems  Doctor  Newton,  who  has  been 
attending  you  all  the  time,  knew  the  relation  you  sus- 
tamed   to   me,   but  knowing  you   were   desperately 
wounded,  he  kept  the  secret.     However,  I  sought  him 
out  with  Archy ;  that  cunning  fellow  would  not  take 
me  to  you  first.     The  doctor  was  of  course  surprised ; 
he  had  given  me  charge,  a  day  or  two  before,  of  Lieu- 
tenant Richardson,  but  that  gentleman,  though  one 
of  your  officers,  was  as  mute  as  a  sea-turtle,  though 
he  knew  who  I  was.     And  when  I  inquired  about  you, 
as  I  did  from  everybody,    the   lieutenant   actually 
fibbed.     But  then  he  is  such  a  good,  noble  fellow." 
This  was  said  with  so  much  earnestness  that  Robert 
opened  his  eyes,  looked  at  the  blushing  face  of  his 
sister,  and  said : 

"  So  you  really  think  Richardson  is  a  good  fellow  ?  " 
Without  appearing  to  notice  the  interruption,  Mary 
hurried  on. 

"  Doctor  Newton  agreed  to  let  me  see  you  and  nurse 
you  on  condition  that  I  should  never  talk  in  the  room, 
and  that  Archy  should  always  ascertain  if  you  were 
conscious  before  I  entered.  Of  course,  dear  brother, 
I  complied,"  said  Mary  as  she  stooped  and  kissed 
him  ;  then  added,  "  I  will  not  tire  you  with  the  rest, 
you  can  imagine  it." 

She  had  hardly  concluded  when  in  walked  Doctor 
Newton.  Robert  reached  out  his  hand  and  thanked 
him  for  his  kindness  to  himself  and  sister,  but  the 
doctor    playfully  informed   him  he   must   not   talk, 


430  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

adding,  "  If  you  remain  quiet  till  to-morrow,  captain, 
I  have  another  agreeable  surprise  in  store  for  you.'* 

"  I  will  be  mute  as  a  mouse,  doctor,  but  I  should 
like  to  see  Richardson,"  said  the  captain. 

"  I  have  promised  Albert  to  let  him  try  his  crutches 
in  a  few  days,  if  he  behaves.     Then  you  can  see  him. 

Robert  acquiesced,  though  he  felt  strong  enough 
in  his  own  opinion  to  respond  to  "  boots  and  sad- 
dles "  in  the  time  it  would  take  him  to  dress. 

The  doctor,  for  reasons  best  known  to  himself,  did 
not  produce  the  promised  agreeable  surprise  on  the 
following  day  ;  but  on  the  one  succeeding,  after  dress- 
ing the  captain's  rapidly-healing  wounds,  he  went  out 
and  soon  returned,  escorting  in  Gaines,  Tennes.see, 
Old  Dawn,  and  Arkansas.  Gaines  walked  a  little 
lame,  but  in  other  respects  he  looked  well,  while 
Tennessee  seemed  himself  again,  excepting  that  his 
yellow  hair  and  beard  were  shorter  than  he  was  ac- 
customed to  wear  them. 

The  joy  of  all  was  unbounded  at  this  meeting,  and 
only  the  doctor's  presence  prevented  Robert  from 
getting  up  and  explaining  all  about  himself  to  "  the 
boys  "  while  he  made  inquiries  as  to  the  state  of  their 
wounds. 

The  interv'iew  was  short,  but  the  doctor  assured 
Robert  he  could  see  the  men  again  before  they  went  to 
the  front,  for  which  they  were  then  en  route. 

Two  weeks  rolled  past,  during  which  time  Robert 
grew  daily  stronger,  and  was  permitted  to  dress  and 
sit  up  for  a  few  hours  every  afternoon.  Gaines  with 
the  rest  of  the  men  had  gone  down  the  Mississippi, 
being  ordered  to  join  Sherman,  then  on  the  Yazoo. 
IRichardson  was  still  on  crutches,  and  never  let  two 


THE  CONVALESCENT  COMRADES.  431 

hours  elapse  without  coming  to  see  the  captain  when 
he  was  awake.  The  lieutenant's  manner  seemed  very- 
much  changed.  He  was  no  longer  rese  -ved.  He  was 
more  than  usually  kind,  and  when  Mary  was  present 
his  voice  softened  and  the  expressio  i  of  his  face 
changed.  Robert  had  his  suspicions,  but  prudently 
kept  them  to  himself.  One  day  after  he  had  grown 
so  strong  that  he  applied  for  a  hospital  discharge,  and 
when  Eichardson  had  thrown  away  his  crutches,  Mary, 
who  knew  her  brother  would  soon  leave,  reminded  him 
about  removing  Lieutenant  Frazer's  remains  to  Colum- 
bia, he  having  previously  learned  where  the  Tennes- 
seean  was  buried.  After  Robert  had  promised  this, 
Mary  was  silent  for  some  time.  There  was  evidently 
something  on  her  mind  which  she  wished  to  commu- 
nicate to  her  brother.  Robert  knew  this,  and  it  was 
cruel  in  him  not  to  help  her.  At  length  she  mustered 
up  courage,  and  pulling  her  chair  close  to  his  she  took 
one  of  his  hands  in  hers. 

*' Brother  Robert." 

"Yes,  sister  Mary." 

Robert  was  smoking,  and  blew  a  cload  toward  the 
ceiling  in  which  direction  his  face  was  turned. 

"You  and  Lieutenant  Richardson  will  be  together 
after  you  leave  ?" 

"I  hope  so,  sister." 

*'  Brother  Robert,  would  you  object  to  my  writing 
to  Lieutenant  Richardson.  You  know  he  will  be  very 
lonely  down  by  that  miserable  river  near  Vicksburg." 

"Yes,  sister,  I  will  let  him  read  the  letters  you  send 
me  ;  I  hope  to  get  one,  at  least,  every  week." 

•*  You  do  n't  think  T  ought  to  write  to  him,  then?" 

"I  do  not  wish  to  create  that  impression,  Mary. 


432  WAKREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Has  the  lieutenant  asked  you  to  write?'* 

"  Why,  of  course,  or  I  would  not  do  it." 

"Then,  my  darling  little  sister,  if  it  will  make  you 
and  Richardson  happier  to  write  to  each  other,  do  so 
by  all  means."  Robert  drew  her  closer  to  him,  and 
laying  aside  his  pipe  he  looked  kindly  into  her  half- 
frightened  eyes. 

"Mary,  the  lieutenant  loves  you — I  have  thought  so 
for  a  long  time.  Tell  me,  what  are  your  feelings  to- 
ward him?" 

"I  do  not  know,  Robert,"  said  Mary,  nestling  closer 
to  the  broad  chest.  "I  respect  him  very  much.  He 
is  so  noble  and  brave,  and  seems  to  be  nearer  to  you 
than  some  brothers.  I  cannot  help  feeling  a  more 
than  usual  interest  in  him." 

"  I  do  not  wonder  at  that,  Mary.  Richardson  is  one 
of  the  few  thoroughly  good  men  I  ever  met ;  and, 
withal,  he  is  positive.     I  like  positive  men." 

"So  do  I,  brother  Robert." 

"  Very  well ;  I  love  my  litter  sister  so  much,  and 
have  such  confidence  in  her  heart  and  good  sense,  that 
whatever  she  does  is  right  to  me."  Robert  kissed 
her,  and  rising  as  he  concluded  he  walked  out, 
leaving  her  heart  full  of  happiness. 

A  few  days  after  this,  and  the  captain  and  his  lieu- 
tenant went  south  to  the  Yazoo,  while  Mary  remained 
behind,  an  angel  in  the  hospital. 


CHAPTEE  XXXVII. 


**THE   CITY   OF   AN   HUNDRED   HILLS." 

"  The  Yankees  might  take  Richmond,"  but,  with  a 
romantic  oath,  Pemberton  raid  "  they  could  not  take 
Vicksburg ;"  and  the  Southern  people  believed  this 
with  good  reason.  In  the  early  spring  of  '63  Davis 
had  been  there,  and  in  a  speech  to  the  garrison  pro- 
nounced the  place  impregnable.  He  said  "the  com- 
bined armies  of  Yankeedom  "  could  not  take  Vicks- 
burg "with  such  defenders,  provided  they  had  provis- 
ions." Then  Pemberton  vowed  that  if  Vicksburg 
were  besieged  it  would  only  surrender  "when  the  last 
mule  and  rat  had  been  eaten,  and  the  last  cartridge 
fired  by  the  last  man."  This  sounded  well,  and  those 
who  subsequently  denounced  Pemberton  as  "  a  traitor 
to  the  South  "  applauded  to  the  skies. 

Some  philosopher  ha^said  "there  is  no  such  thing 
as  an  absolute  falsehood."  It  might  be  added, 
"There  are  grounds  for  every  earnest  assertion." 
The  Southern  people  were  given  to  overestimate 
themselves,  and  underestimate  their  opponents ; 
stin  they  had  strong  reasons  for  voting  Vicksbm-g 
impregnable.  From  its  southern  batteries  But- 
ler and  Porter  had  been  sent  flying  down  the  river, 
while  Sherman  and  McClernand  had  assaulted  its 
northern  defenses  on  the  Yazoo  only  to  be  repulsed. 
Even  the  former  attempt  of  General  Grant  to  reach 

Jackson  from  Grenada  proved  a  complete  failure. 

37 


434  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

When  Grant  assumed  command  of  the  Army  of 
the  Mississippi  in  the  early  spring  of  'G3,  he  illus- 
trated the  truth  of  the  adage  that  "Where  there  's  a 
will  there 's  a  way."  Butler's  canal,  intended  to  turn 
the  channel  of  the  Mississippi  and  leave  Yicksburg 
"high  and  dry,"  was  a  failure,  and  in  the  spring  of 
the  year  named  its  stagnant  waters  were  the  paradise 
of  frogs,  while  the  Mississippi  in  a  grand  sweep  rolled 
up  against  the  cliffs  and  hills  of  Yicksburg. 

Robert  Warren  was  glad  to  be  transferred  with  his 
men  to  the  Army  of  the  Mississippi.  It  seemed  like 
getting  nearer  his  home  when  he  scouted  in  the  woods 
of  Louisiana  below  Vicksburg,  in  which  State  two 
years  before  he  had  been  a  hunted  fugitive.  Gaines 
and  Tennessee  were  with  him,  as  was  Arcby,  and  he 
hoped  for  the  day  when  they  could  all  go  back  to  the 
Caddo  Lakes  again  and  look  upon  the  scene  of  the 
terrible  storm  of  March  two  years  before. 

It  required  a  great  deal  of  nerve  to  run  the  batte- 
ries before  Vicksburg  with  steamers.  Yet  hundreds 
of  brave  men,  acquainted  with  the  bend,  were  ready 
to  volunteer.  Although  several  steamers  were  de- 
stroyed in  their  efforts  to  pass,  enough  got  through 
for  General  Grant's  purpose.  Down  the  west  bank  of 
the  river  to  Bruinsboro'  the  Army  marched,  and  the 
steamers  were  there  to  ferry  the  troops  across  before 
the  enemy  was  aware  of  Grant's  purpose.  Defeat  to 
the  Union  troops  at  this  time  would  have  been  ruin, 
but  to  defeat  that  army  would  have  been  to  annihilate 
it.  Every  man  appreciated  the  position,  and  felt  as 
if  the  success  of  the  campaign  depended  on  his  own 
exertions.  At  Grand  Gulf  Pemberton  was  met,  but 
it  was  only  to  hurl  him  back  from  the  Mississippi  to 


BEFORE  VICKSBURG.  435 

Port  Gribson  on  the  Bayou  Perfe.  At  Port  Gibson,  the 
most  beautiful  town  in  the  South,  Pemberton  threw 
himself  in  Grrant's  path ;  but  the  opposition  he  offered 
hardly  checked  the  rapid  advance  of  the  men  bound 
for  Vicksburg.  Kaymond,  Champion  Hills,  Jackson, 
and  the  Big  Black  offered  but  points  for  a  temporary 
resistance.  Pemberton's  army,  weakened  by  the  loss 
of  Loring,  who  was  cut  off  by  the  Union  Army,  was 
driven  into  Vicksburg,  and  Grant's  triumphant  legions 
encamped  before  it,  first  feeling  its  gigantic  works 
by  a  bloody  and  fruitless  assault,  then  opening  up 
communications  with  the  North  by  way  of  Milliken's 
Bend  and  the  Yazoo. 

Captain  Warren's  duties  during  this  time  were  of 
the  most  arduous  kind.  The  Union  Army  was  be- 
tween two  forces,  viz.,  Pemberton  in  Vicksburg  and 
Johnston  at  Jackson.  An  attack  from  both  simulta- 
neously would  have  been  disastrous,  and  it  required 
the  utmost  vigilance  to  prevent  concert  of  action 
between  the  rebel  generals. 

In  the  early  June  Captain  Warren  was  instructed 
to  take  a  few  men,  including  a  telegraph  operator, 
pass  north  between  Canton  and  Jackson,  tap  the  wires 
between  the  latter  place  and  Brandon,  and  ascertain 
by  every  means  the  condition  and  strength  of  General 
Joe  Johnston's  army.  It  was  an  easy  matter  to  obtain 
passes  with  the  name  of  any  Southern  general  on,  in 
this  case  with  the  signature  of  General  Johnston,  so 
as  to  use  them  if  necessary. 

At  the  time  of  the  advance  on  Jackson,  the  Union 
Cavalry  destroyed  the  railroad  and  telegraph  wires 
east  of  Jackson  to  Pearl  River,  where  they  burned  the 
bridge.      It  had  been  ascertained  that  neither  the 


436  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

railroad  nor  wires  had  been  repaired  by  Johnston,  so 
that  all  dispatches  for  the  east  had  to  be  sent  by 
courier  to  Brandon,  beyond  the  river,  from  which  point 
stores  for  the  Army  went  west  by  wagon. 

To  reach  Pearl  River  by  the  route  laid  down  re- 
quired two  days  of  hard  riding,  by  unfrequented 
roads  and  across  that  portion  of  the  country  less  apt 
to  be  traversed  by  the  scouting  or  foraging  parties 
of  the  enemy. 

The  evening  of  the  second  day  they  struck  the 
river  north  of  what  they  learned  was  the  Brandon 
FeiTy,  and  in  a  p'lme  wood  they  went  into  camp.  Cap- 
tain Warren,  Richardson,  Tennessee,  and  a  telegraph 
operator  named  Sailor,  formerly  of  Dayton,  Ohio, 
comprised  the  party.  Sailor  was  familiar  with  the 
cypher  used  by  the  enemy  at  this  time,  though  he 
was  completely  ignorant  of  that  used  by  the  com- 
manding officer  of  his  own  army.  Up  to  this  time 
they  had  met  detached  squads  of  the  enemy  without 
exciting  suspicion.  Indeed,  from  some  of  them 
Captain  Warren  learned  much  of  importance  relative 
to  Johnston's  army. 

After  going  into  camp,  Tennessee  was  sent  down 
near  the  road  with  instructions  to  watch  for  the 
couriers,  who  would  be  known  by  their  dress  and 
satchel,  but  by  no  means  to  halt  any  other  person. 
They  built  no  fire  and  all  stood  their  watch,  including 
the  captain.  Just  before  daylight  Tennessee  was  on 
again,  and  before  half  an  hour  he  came  into  camp 
conducting  a  young  man  who  proved  to  be  a  courier 
going  to  Brandon  with  dispatches  for  Richmond, 
He  was  a  handsome  fellow,  and  wore  a  look  of  pro- 
found astonishment  at  his  arrest  by  men  whom  he 
supposed  to  be  friends. 


"YOU  ARE  A  TRISONER!"  437 

"Why  do  you  detain  mc,  sir?"  he  asked,  address, 
ing  himself  to  Robert,  whom  he  recognized  from 
his  manner  as  the  leader  of  the  party. 

Moving  further  into  the  woods,  Robert  struck  a 
light  and  ordered  the  courier  to  take  off  his  satchel. 

"  I  protest,  sir,  against  this  treatment,"  said  the 
courier.  "  I  have  dispatches  of  importance,  and  I 
promised  to  get  them  to  Brandon  early  this  morning. 
Here  are  my  papers ;  you  can  see  I  am  permitted  to 
pass  and  repass  all  pickets  and  guards  without  deten- 
tion." 

*'  I  do  not  doubt  but  your  papers,  under  other  cir- 
cumstances, would  pass  you  to  and  from  Brandon,  but 
where  I  come  from  they  would  be  useless,"  said  the 
captain. 

"What!"  exclaimed  the  courier  in  amazement, 
"  are  you  Yankees  ? ' ' 

"We  are,  sir,  and  you  are  our  prisoner,"  was  the 
reply. 

The  courier  on  hearing  this  sat  down  and  wept  like 
a  child. 

"  You  have  done  your  duty,"  said  Robert,  laying 
his  hand  on  the  courier's  shoulder,  "  and  are  not  to 
blame  for  what  is  a  fortune  of  war.  In  one  hour  I 
intend  starting  for  Vicksburg.  Our  saddle-bags  are 
lilled  with  percussion  caps  for  Pemberton's  men." 

The  courier  looked  up  in  wonder,  while  Robert 
continued  :  "  I  wish  I  had  these  papers  without  you. 
I  cannot  parole  you.  It  is  nearly  impossible  to  take 
you  through  with  me.  I  do  not  know  what  to  do  with 
you.' 

"  I  do,  sir  ! "  said  the  courier,  rising  hastily.  "  Here, 
ehoot  me  !  for  I  do  not  want  to  live  under  a  disgrace." 
37* 


438  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"I  regret  that  war  should  make  me  the  foe  of  so 
brave  a  man,"  said  the  captain,  "  but  you  see  my  po- 
sition, and  you  know  the  law  about  self-preserva- 
tion?" 

"  I  do,  sir.  I  expect  what  I  desire — death.  Last 
night  I  agreed  with  my  horse  to  take  those  dis- 
patches for  General  Johnston  two  hours  shorter  than 
his  best  courier.  Now  I  am  a  prisoner  and  the  blame 
will  be  on  me." 

Robert  walked  aside  and  consulted  with  Richard- 
son for  a  few  minutes,  then  came  back. 

"  If  you  agree  to  my  plan,"  he  said,  addressing  the 
prisoner,  "  T  will  promise  that  before  forty-eight  hours 
General  Johnston  learns  all  about  your  gallant  conduct 
and  the  manner  of  your  capture.  In  giving  yom-  re- 
ply to  me,  consider  well  the  importance  of  your  word, 
and  before  giving  a  negative  think  of  those  at  home 
who  are  dear  to  you.  I  cannot  parole  you.  If  you 
will  submit  to  being  disguised  and  will  pledge  that 
you  will  make  no  attempt  at  escape  till  we  reach  the 
Big  Black,  I  will  take  you  through  and  release  you 
there.  If  you  do  not  agree  to  this  you  court  your  own 
death  to  save  the  lives  of  your  enemies." 

The  courier  held  down  his  head  for  a  few  minutes, 
weighing  the,  to  him,  all-important  question  of  life  or 
death.  He  made  up  his  mind,  and  rising,  he  extended 
his  hand  to  the  captain. 

"  I  will  go  with  you,  sir,  for  my  mother's  sake,  if 
you  promise  to  send  a  letter  from  some  point  before 
reaching  your  lines  to  General  Johnston." 

"  I  shall  certainly  do  so,"  said  Robert,  and  ^e  had 
hardly  finished  speaking  before  a  bugle  sounded  near 
the  ferry,  and  Tennessee  hastened  back  to  say  a  regi- 


READING  THE  CIPHER  SECRET.  439 

ment  of  cavalry  was  moving  in  the  direction  of  Jack- 
son. 

They  waited  till  the  regiment  had  a  good  start 
ahead,  then  Richardson  changed  the  appearance  of 
the  courier  by  making  him  exchange  clothes  and  put- 
ting a  huge  pair  of  brown  whiskers  on  the  smoothf 
boyish  face.  In  the  meantime  Tennessee  put  his  own 
equipments  on  the  courier's  horse,  after  he  had  dark- 
ened  the  white  star  on  the  beautiful  animal's  head, 
and  trimmed  very  closely  the  flowing  tail  and  mane. 

Before  starting  Sailor  had  read  the  cipher,  and  it, 
with  the  rest  of  the  papers  found  on  the  person  of 
the  courier,  was  destroyed.  As  they  rode  along,  tak- 
ing a  route  south  of  Jackson  in  the  direction  of  Crys- 
tal Springs,  Sailor  informed  Robert  that  one  of  the 
dispatches  read  :  *'  It  would  be  imprudent  to  cross  the 
Big  Black  with  twenty  thousand  men  and  no  artil- 
lery." This  was  addressed  to  "President  Davis, 
Richmond,  Va." 

"  This  is  all  he  wants  to  know.  I  think  the  general 
will  smoke  without  much  concern  after  hearing  that," 
said  Robert. 

"  Yes,  if  we  only  gits  to  give  him  the  news  without 
bein*  onpleasantly  interfered  with  on  the  way,"  said 
Tennessee,  dryly,  and  with  a  queer  twinkle  in  his  blue 
eyes  that  looked  like  a  smile,  but  meant  anxiety. 

"  Half  the  work  is  over,  Tennessee,"  said  Robert. 
'*  Though  we  will  have  ridden  over  two  hundred  miles 
to  secure  a  few  words,  they  will  be  worth  a  corps  to 
Grant,  and  we  must  get  them  to  him." 

The  country  through  which  they  passed  returning 
was  a  little  better  than  the  one  by  which  they  had 
come.     The  soil  was  light,  and  forests  of  pine,  with 


440  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

an  undergrowth  of  fan  palm  and  huge  ferns,  lined  the 
road  for  much  of  the  distance.  Here  and  there  was 
to  be  seen  a  clearing,  with  fields  of  cotton  or  corn  sur- 
rounding the  pretentious  " white  folks'  house"  and 
log  cabins  of  the  negroes.  Now  and  then  a  black- 
smith's shop  by  the  roadside,  surrounded  by  crippled 
wagons,  and  occasionally  a  negro  driving  unconcern- 
edly his  double  mule-team,  were  the  only  objects  that 
broke  the  monotony  of  the  undulating  country  be- 
tween the  ferry  at  Pearl  River  and  Crystal  Springs. 
Near  the  latter  place,  early  in  the  evening,  the  scouts 
went  into  camp  some  distance  from  the  road,  while 
Robert  rode  into  town,  or  rather  into  the  pleasant 
Uttle  village,  to  obtain  supplies  and  learn  what  he 
could  about  the  enemy.  As  he  expected,  there  were 
no  troops  stationed  there,  but  there  were  many  sol- 
diers on  leave  and  furlough  lounging  about  the  tavern. 
It  was  wonderful  to  think  of  the  liberality  of  the 
Southern  officers  with  their  men.  In  '63  every  male 
from  sixteen  to  sixty  was  looked  on  as  a  soldier,  and 
two-thu*ds  of  their  number  w^ould  have  outnumbered 
the  Union  Army  at  any  time,  but  they  straggled,  got 
off  on  slight  pretexts,  and  with  an  utter  lack  of  inter- 
est in  their  cause  they  left  the  fighting  to  the  minor- 
ity, and  stood  ready  to  demand  the  glory  if  the  South 
was  successful.  And  as  a  rule  these  skulkers  were 
the  men  who,  on  the  agitation  of  secession,  were 
loudest  in  their  demands  for  separation,  and  through 
the  war  bitterest  in  their  denunciations  of  the  North. 
Only  the  devoted  heroism  of  the  minority  that  did 
fight  can  give  to  the  Southern  people  a  claim  for  pat- 
riotic self-denial. 

Crystal  Springs,  though  not  made  up  of  planters* 


AN  ENCOUNTER— AUDACITY.  441 

residences,  as  is  Port  Gibson,  is  still  a  very  pretty  vil- 
lage for  that  latitude,  with  more  evidences  of  home 
comfort  than  are  usually  to  be  met  with  in  Southern 
towns.  Robert  spent  an  hour  very  profitably  in  the 
place,  and  while  there  he  wrote  and  posted  a  letter  to 
the  officer  commanding  the  Confederate  forces  at 
Jackson,  explaining  the  capture  of  the  courier.  This 
he  did  with  a  feeling  of  safety,  as  he  hoped  to  be  in 
Vicksburg  in  twenty-four  hours,  or  before  the  mail 
would  start  from  the  Springs. 

Returning  to  camp  Robert  formed  the  reliefs,  with 
orders  to  keep  a  strict  watch  over  the  prisoner, 
though,  as  it  proved,  the  word  of  the  courier  first  given 
was  a  sufficient  guarantee  for  his  conduct. 

Early  next  morning  the  scouts  were  in  the  saddle. 
Fifty  miles  lay  between  them  and  Vicksburg,  with 
the  Big  Black  to  swim  and  the  rebel  scouts  east  of 
it  to  elude.  All  went  well  until  two  in  the  afternoon, 
when  Robert,  on  ascending  a  slope,  saw  ahead  on  the 
road  a  large  body  of  Confederate  cavalry,  half  hidden 
in  the  cloud  of  dust  it  raised,  advancing  toward  him. 
He  determined  to  ride  on,  and  without  halting  he 
posted  the  scouts  to  break  and  make  for  Vicksburg  in 
case  of  discovery.  Instructing  Tennessee  to  watch 
the  prisoner,  he  and  Richardson  rode  ahead  some 
distance.  The  officer  in  command  of  the  cavalry  was 
some  distance  ahead  of  the  line  with  his  staff,  and  as 
Robert  approached  he  called  out : 

*'Halt,  there!  which  way  are  you  going,  sir?"  at 
the  same  time  he  dispatched  an  officer  lo  stop  the 
column. 

"I  am  going  to  Vicksburg,  sir,"  replied  Robert. 

"  The  h — 1  you  are  !     What  do  you  intend  doing 


442  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

there?"  asked  the  officer  in  a  tone  of  incredulity  and 
surprise. 

*E,ead  that,  sir,"  said  Eobert,  handing  the  officer 
a  note  as  he  turned  and  with  his  hand  halted  his  little 
band. 

The  officer,  judging  from  the  time  his  eyes  were  on 
the  paper,  must  have  read  it  over  half  a  dozen  times. 

*•  •  Captain  Warren,'"  he  muttered,  as  if  criticising 
the  paper  in  his  hand,  "  'going  to  Vicksburg  with 
caps,  is  to  go  back  and  report  to  Johnston ' — Pember- 
ton's  signature,  sure."  Then  glancing  at  the  captain 
with  a  look  of  admiration  he  said  :  "  Young  man,  do  n't 
you  know  you  are  playing  a  terrible  game  ? — going  on 
a  d — d  desperate  enterprise?" 

"I  know  it,  sir,"  replied  the  captain ;  "but  we  are 
d — d  desperate  men  !' ' 

*'  Spoken  like  a  hero,  by  the  Grods  !  Give  me  your 
hand,  Captain  Warren.  My  name  is  Scott,  Colonel 
Scott,"  said  the  officer,  seizing  the  captain's  hand. 

♦'  Oh,  I  think,"  said  the  captain,  "I  met  you  in 
Kentucky  last  summer,  with  Bragg?"  said  Robert,  in- 
quiringly. 

The  colonel  laughed. 

*'  You  are  very  near  right,  captain.  I  was  in  there 
with  Kirby  Smith,  who  is  now  at  Shreveport,  and  a 
gallant  officer." 

"  Yes,  we  were  all  mixed  up  there  for  a  while,  so 
that  I  am  excusable  for  mistaking  the  army  you  were 
attached  to." 

"Perfectly  excusable,  captain,  about  the  army 
One  thing  you  could  not  mistake — the  cause  I  was  at- 
tached to.     We  were  under  the  same  flag." 

"  We  were  under  the  same  flag,"  repeated  the  cap- 


THE  REBEL  COURIER  RELEASED.  443 

tain,  with  au  emphasis  whose  full  meaning  Colonel 
Scott  did  not  then  know. 

*'By  the  way,  colonel,  what  are  the  chances  for 
Vickshurg?"  asked  Robert,  determined  to  direct  the 
cm-rent  of  their  conversation. 

"D — n  poor,  captain.  I  think,  however,  the  place 
cannot  be  carried  by  assault.  Our  only  fear,  between 
us,  is  Pemberton.  Pemberton,  you  know,  is  a  Yankee, 
and,  curse  them  !  I  do  not  trust  them,  even  when  they 
have  sworn  to  protect  our  flag.  We  hope  to  strengthen 
Johnston  so  as  to  warrant  his  crossing  the  Big  Black. 
At  the  same  time  we  are  annoying  the  Yankee  outposts, 
and  bothering  them  like  the  devil  with  our  light  ar- 
tillery on  the  river.  I  am  now  on  the  way  to  join  an 
expedition  for  Yazoo  City.  There  are  a  lot  of 
smoked  Yankees  [negi'oes]  there,  and  before  two  days 
we  will  make  them  wish  themselves  back  in  slavery." 

*'I  wish  you  a  deserved  success,  colonel." 

*'  I  know  that,  captain.  Now  draw  your  men  aside 
and  let  me  pass,  and  when  the  war  is  over  come  and 
see  me,  at  Cahaba,  Alabama.  Good  bye  !  God  bless 
you,  old  fellow." 

Ptobert  clasped  the  brave  fellow's  hand  warmly,  and 
drew  his  men  in  line  along  the  roadside,  where  all, 
including .  the  young  courier,  saluted  Colonel  Scott 
and  his  command  as  it  passed. 

The  scouts  breathed  easier  as  the  last  Confederate 
passed,  and  the  moving  column  of  dust  told  them  they 
were  out  of  immediate  danger. 

An  hour's  ride  took  them  to  the  Big  Black,  where 
Robert  returned  the  courier  his  horse,  much  to  Ten- 
nessee's disgust,  and  thanking  him  for  the  honor  he 
had  displayed,  he  told  him  he  was  at  liberty  to  return. 


444  'WAREEN  OF  TEXAS. 

The  courier  before  leaving  expressed,  in  a  feeling 
way,  his  admiration  for  the  men  who  could  risk  so 
much  for  their  cause.  "Before  I  met  you,  Captain 
Warren,  I  looked  upon  your  army  as  a  set  of  mer- 
cenary hirelings.  Henceforth  I  will  believe  there  are 
brave  men  in  it  willing  to  risk  all  for  what  they  con- 
'sider  duty." 

' '  Our  army  has  but  few  men  who  would  not  do 
what  I  am  willing  to  for  the  Union,  and  after  we  pass 
away,  three  millions  of  men,  equally  earnest,  are 
ready  to  take  our  places.  Tell  this  to  your  friends, 
and  help  to  bring  about  peace." 

The  young  man  gave  no  reply,  but,  shaking  hands 
with  all,  he  rode  slowly  back,  looking  behind  him 
at  times,  till  he  saw  the  dripping  horsemen  emerge  on 
the  west  bank  of  the  Big  Black,  then  he  shook  his 
bridle,  and  with  his  dashing  horse  was  soon  lost  be- 
yond the  slope. 

Before  the  sun  went  down  the  scouts  had  reported, 
and  Grant  tightened  his  hold  on  Yicksburg,  without 
a  fear  of  the  army  at  Jackson.  Two  days  after  this 
there  was  an  attack  on  Yazoo  City,  but  there  were 
more  than  "smoked  Yankees"  to  meet  the  rebels,  and 
one  Yankee  outpost  was  prepared  for  the  intended 
surprise. 

It  would  thrill,  even  now,  to  recall  the  story  of  that 
glorious  siege.  The  bloody  assaults  of  the  besiegers, 
the  reckless  sorties  of  the  besieged ;  the  mine  and 
attack,  and  the  daily  approach  of  the  inflexible  lines 
and  ubiquitous  gunboats ;  the  nights  when  the  fiery 
path  of  signal  lights  and  screeching  shells  from  the 
river  and  the  land  showed  there  was  no  rest  for  the 
determined  army  till  its  mission  was  complete.     July 


yiCKSBURG  SUCCUMBS.  445" 

4th,  most  auspicious  of  days,  came  around,  and  with 
it  the  white  flags,  and  the  silenced  forts,  and  Pem- 
berton's  thirty- five  thousand  men,  with  artillery  parked 
and  arms  grounded,  and  the  banner  of  the  Union 
floating  over  all.  Bravely  and  well  the  garrison  of 
Vicksburg  fought;  but  the  silly  boast  of  the  last 
man,  last  cartridge,  last  mule,  and  last  rat  was  not 
can-ied  out.  They  "  lived  to  fight  another  day," 
the  majority  without  being  exchanged. 

And  the  night  of  the  4th  saw  Burnside's  men  on 
the  road  to  Jackson,  from  which  Johnston  was  hurled 
back  before  he  knew  that  Vicksburg  had  fallen. 

The  day  after  the  siege  the  captain  received  a 
letter  from  Mary,  saying  that  Addison  was  wounded 
and  a  prisoner  at  Nashville.  In  a  sweet,  womanly 
way  she  regretted  the  suffering  of  the  man  once  so 
dear  to  her,  and  deplored  the  military  order  which 
was  to  send  him  to  Camp  Douglas  when  strong  enough 
to  move.  *'He  was  very  destitute  when  brought  in,'* 
she  said,  **  and  it  did  my  heart  good  to  be  able 
to  care  for  him,  and,  without  wounding  his  pride, 
to  give  him  the  means  of  purchasing  little  trifles, 
which  he  will  not  crave  for  if  he  has  money.  The 
old  feeling  died  long  ago ;  but,  thank  Grod,  the 
theory  of  woman's  love  turning  to  hate  does  not 
apply  to  my  case.  Now  that  he  has  fought  so  bravely, 
I  would  not  have  him  change  if  I  could ;  but  I  pray 
that  his  heart  may  be  opened. 

"You  must  be  careful  of  yourself,  my  brother;  for 
remember  the  happiness  of  more  than  your  little 
sister  dq[>ends  on  your  safe  return.  I  shall  write 
often,  and  would  make  this  longer,  but  a  lot  of  my 
*  boys'  are  at  the  door,  and  I  hear  the  clatter  of 
38 


446  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

crutches  coming  up  behind  me.  Sometimes  I  read 
for  them.  I  have  love  letters  to  write  for  them 
daily,  and  I  have  become  an  expert  at  the  games  of 
'  Old  Maid'  and  '  Muggings.'  I  play  the  latter  game 
very  often  with  a  dear  little  sergeant.  Poor  boy  !  he 
was  badly  wounded  with  Roeecrans  ;  but  he  looks  so 
good  and  happy,  even  with  his  sufferings,  that  he  re- 
minds me  of  you,  a«d  I  call  him  'my  little  brother,* 
while  at  the  same  time  I  ask  God  to  bless  that  big 
brother  at  the  front  and  return  him  in  safety  to  his 
"  Affectionate  sister,  MaPwY." 

A  look  of  pride  and  intense  satisfaction  came  over 
the  bronzed  face  of  the  soldier  as  he  read  this  letter, 
so  indicative  of  self-denial  from  the  once  child  of 
luxury  and  ease.  With  the  letter  held  in  his  hand  as 
he  sat  before  the  camp-fire,  he  thought  to  himself  of 
the  noble  influence  exercised  by  such  women  on  the 
war,  and  the  good  done  by  the  ministering  angels, 
who  gave  up  home  and  comfort  for  trial  and  hardship 
to  carry  out  their  love  for  their  country  and  race. 
God  placed  her  so  high  and  made  her  so  pure  that 
her  fall,  if  it  comes,  is  great,  and  the  stain  is  more 
indelible  than  in  the  case  of  less  sensitive  man.  The 
merits  of  the  Union  and  Southern  causes  could  at  any 
time  be  seen,  by  one  disinterested,  in  the  action  of 
the  women  of  each  section.  To  the  North,  charity, 
mercy,  and  patriotism  were  the  ruling  emotions.  To 
the  South,  patriotism,  incited  by  hate ;  but  mercy 
was  dead  in  the  hearts  of  women  who  would  poison 
water  in  the  path  of  their  foes ;  who  would  cast  off 
the  wounded  wretch  that  crawled  to  her  doorstep  for 
rest,  and  taunt  and  insult  him  in  his  very  helplessness. 
In  the  South  the  smile  of  a  woman  with  rebel  sympa- 


NORTHERN  VERSUS  SOUTHERN  WOMEN.      447 

thies  was  never  seen  in  the  hospitals  where  northern 
wounded  lay  ;  and  the  dwellers  in  the  prison-pens  will 
all  remember  some  woman  who  saw  their  sufferings 
to  gloat  over  their  misery. 

If  in  the  unseen  world  there  be  an  intermediate 
state,  there  will  be  but  few  spirits  of  women  there. 
Purgatory  is  the  abode  of  the  indifferent.  Who  ever 
heard  of  such  a  woman  ?  Among  the  pleasing  recol- 
lections of  those  days  is  that  of  the  women  of  the 
North,  who,  by  presence  and  deeds,  reminded  their 
brothers  in  every  hour  of  trial  of  their  deep  devotion 
to  the  cause  ;  and  thinking  of  her  well-filled  mission 
as  an  angel  of  mercy,  the  soldier  feels  that  if  in  the 
better  land  the  angels  have  sex,  the  spirits  of  women 
must  rest  nearer  to  the  Throne,  and  theii  voices  must 
sing  the  sweeter  song  c^  praise. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 


THE  CONFEDERACY   BISECTED. 

It  was  a  beautiful  thought  of  the  great  general, 
after  the  fall  of  the  Mississippi  strongholds,  to  say  in 
his  dispatch  after  Vicksburg,  "The  Father  of  Waters 
flows  unvexed  to  the  sea."  The  Confederacy  was 
bisected  in  July,  '63,  and  to  prevent  communication 
between  the  sections,  gunboats  were  stationed  at 
intervals  along  the  river,  while  others  patroled  it  day 
and  night  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  crossing  with 
mails.  Every  skiff  on  the  river  was  destroyed,  and 
scouting  parties  searched  every  creek  and  bayou  for 
canoes,  rafts,  and  boats  which  the  people  on  the  river 
might  have  secreted.  Despite  this  vigilance  the  wings 
of  the  Confederacy  were  in  daily  communication. 
Copies  of  Shreveport  papers  obtained  by  the  scouts  a  few 
weeks  after  the  fall  of  Vicksburg  contained  news  from 
the  East  subsequent  to  the  Union  control  of  the  river. 

Captain  Warren  received  orders  form  the  officer 
commanding  at  Vicksburg  to  take  whatever  men  he 
needed  and  find  out  where  the  rebels  crossed  their 
mails.  Tennessee,  whose  acquaintance  with  North- 
eastern Georgia  rendered  him  invaluable  to  the  army 
there,  was  sent  to  Eosecrans  after  the  fall  of  Vicksburg. 
Captain  Warren  missed  him  very  much,  and  when 
they  parted  it  was  with  the  mutual  pledge  to  meet 
at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  go   to  Texas  together ; 


AGAIN  IN  THE  SADDLE.  449 

Tennessee  promising  to  live  on  the  Brazos  if  Robert 
would  agree  to  spend  some  of  every  month  hunting 
with  him.  Old  man  Dawn  and  little  Ned  remained 
with  Captain  Warren,  and  he  promised  Tennessee  to 
bring  them  out  all  right  when  the  fight  was  over. 

Robert  selected  G-aines,  Richardson,  Old  Dawn,  Lit- 
tle Ned — now  a  learned  young  man,  as  tall  as  his 
uncle — and  Archy  to  accompany  him. 

His  plan  was  to  enter  the  neutral  country  near  Port 
Gibson,  where  all  the  people  were  southern  in  their 
feeling,  and,  by  pretending  to  be  on  furlough  from  the 
Eighth  Texas,  to  interest  the  people  in  his  crossing, 
and  in  that  way  to  find  out  the  underground  route  to 
Shreveport.  Preparing  such  papers  as  he  would  need 
to  substantiate  the  character  he  was  about  to  assume, 
the  scouts  mounted  and  turned  their  horses'  heads 
toward  the  scenes  of  former  exploits.  They  left  the 
Walnut  Hill  above  Vicksburg  about  noon  of  the  27th, 
and  before  night  they  were  beyond  the  Big  Black 
and  in  the  neutral  territory,  where  the  enemy  had  no 
organized  troops.  The  scout  must  reason  in  the  same 
way  as  a  general  commanding  a  larger  expedition. 
Indeed,  an  error  of  judgment  would  be  more  fatal  to 
the  scout  than  to  the  superior  officer.  Captain  War- 
ren knew  that  if  the  enemy  was  crossing  mails  he 
would  carry  them  as  far  as  possible  by  rail,  and  that 
on  the  line  between  the  railroad  terminus  at  Bran- 
don and  the  river  he  would  find  the  information  he 
needed.  He  could  not  go  to  Brandon  with  safety,  for 
it  was  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  he  feared 
meeting  the  courier  or  any  of  Colonel  Scott's  men, 
who  were  so  badly  beaten  at  Yazoo  City  through  his 
instrumentality. 

38* 


450  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Hobart's  Station,  a  place  burned  by  Grierson  on  his 
famous  raid,  was  the  point  aimed  at,  and  early  on  the 
following  morning  the  scouts  entered  the  place.  As 
they  sat  on  their  horses  looking  at  the  ruins  of  the 
depot,  two  men  came  up,  one  dressed  in  a  Confed- 
erate uniform. 

*'Who  did  that?"  asked  Captain  Warren,  pointing 
to  the  ruins  after  he  had  saluted  the  strangers. 

**The  Yanks,  whin  they  raided  through  har,"  said 
the  soldier  in  a  quiet  tone,  while  his  companion,  with 
a  New  England  ii^quisitiveness,  asked  : 

**  Whar  mout  you  an'  your  friens  be  agoin',  stranger? 
We  haint  got  no  troops  about  bar." 

*'I  am  going  west  of  the  Mississippi  if  I  can  make 
it  with  my  friends.  We  are  just  from  our  army,  and 
are  going  home  on  furlough,"  said  the  captain. 

**  Wall,  stranger,  you've  got  a  hard  road  afore  you. 
Bome  fellars,  though,  passes  har  a  goin'  west.  Do  n't 
know  how  they  gits  across,  but  I  reckon  they  does, 
«eein'  as  how  they  don't  come  back." 

This  information  was  given  by  the  old  man. 

**I  intend  staying  about  here  to-day,"  said  Robert ; 
"  our  horses  are  tired,  and  I  wa^it  to  learn  all  I  can 
about  the  crossing.  By  the  way,  my  friend,  can  you 
tell  me  where  I  can  get  our  animals  cared  for  ?  I  am 
willing  to  pay  well  for  it." 

The  old  man  replied  to  Robert :  "I  reckon  we  kin 
keer  for  you  an'  the  bosses,  if  you  kin  put  up  with 
what  we  has — hog  an'  hominy." 

"That  is  just  what  we  Texans  were  raised  on," 
said  Robert.  ' '  But  we  care  more  for  our  horses,  as 
all  cavalrymen  should,  than  we  do  for  ourselves." 

The  old  man  led  the  way  to  a  house  on  the  out- 


HUNTING  THE  CROSSING.  451 

skirts  of  the  little  village,  where,  with  his  limited 
accommodations,,  he  did  everything  in  his  power  for 
the  comfort  of  man  and  beast. 

During  the  day  Eobert  moved  about,  talking  with 
the  people,  and  he  succeeded  in  learning  that  Mr. 
Stockhouse,  who  lived  near  Port  Gribson,  knew  some- 
thing about  the  crossing,  as  the  mail  carriers  stopped 
at  his  place.  Early  next  morning  Robert  paid  the 
kind-hearted  Mississippian  the  moderate  sum  of  one 
hundred  dollars  in  graybacks  for  the  accommodation 
of  himself  and  friends,  and  started  for  Port  Gibson 
to  find  Mr.  Stockhouse. 

They  reached  Port  Gibson  about  the  middle  of  the 
afternoon,  and  with  little  difficulty  ascertained  the 
whereabouts  of  the  S:ockhouse  plantation  on  the 
Bayou  Per^.  Mr.  Stockhouse  was  a  short,  florid, 
little  man,  somewhat  advanced  in  years,  with  a  young 
wife  and  an  old  daughter  by  a  former  marriage.  He 
agreed  willingly  to  let  Warren  and  his  friends  remain 
all  night,  but  he  plead  a  total  ignorance  of  mails  and 
mail-carriers.  Miss  Stockhouse  was  very  agreeable, 
and  Mi's.  Stockhouse  more  so.  From  the  latter  lady 
the  captain  learned  that  a  gentleman  named  Arkles, 
living  near  Bruinsboro',  had  a  boat,  with  which,  for 
a  consideration,  he  was  willing  to  transport  men  bound 
west  across  the  Mississippi.  The  next  morning  the 
captain  named  Arkles  to  Mr.  Stockhouse,  and  asked 
for  a  letter  to  him.  Mr.  Stockhouse  at  first  expressed 
surprise,  but  finally  consented  to  write  to  Mr.  Arkles, 
though  he  assured  the  captain  he  knew  nothing  about 
the  crossing,  and  he  questioned  if  Mr.  Arkles  did. 
Mr.  Stockhouse,  though  "a  good  Southern  man,"  did 
not  object  to  taking  as  large  a  sum  of  money  as  the 


452  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

scouts  liaa  paid  the  previous  night.  The  ride  to  Mr. 
Arkles's  plantation  was  once  familiar  ground — the 
very  territory  traversed  by  Grant  in  his  advance  on 
Vicksburg. 

About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  of  the  day  they 
left  Mr.  Stockhouse's,  Captain  Warren  and  his  friends 
reached  Mr.  Arkles's,  about  four  miles  from  the  Mis- 
sissippi River.  Mr.  Arkles  was  a  wealthy  planter. 
He  was  a  Northern  man,  and  seemed  to  have  but  one 
object,  viz.,  the  saving  of  his  large  plantation  from 
the  people  of  either  side. 

To  Captain  Warren  he  was  extremely  reticent.  He 
knew  nothing  about  crossing  the  river.  When  the 
Federal  troops  under  Grant  had  passed  there  he  had 
taken  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  no  inducement 
could  make  him  change.  His  honor  and  his  conscience 
were  alike  bound  by  that  oath. 

Captain  Warren  presented  his  side  of  the  case.  He 
was  a  Texan,  with  a  limited  furlough.  He  wished  to 
cross  the  Mississippi,  and  money  with  him  was  no 
object.  He  further  urged  that  an  oath  under  the  cir- 
cumstances represented  by  Mr.  Arkles  was  not  bind- 
ing, and  beyond  that  there  was  a  duty  which  every 
good  man  should  not  neglect — this  was  the  duty  he 
owed  to  himself  and  to  the  Confederacy. 

After  Captain  Warren's  half-indignant  speech  on 
this  subject  Mr.  Arkles  stroked  his  thin  beard  and 
called  him  aside. 

"I  know,  captain,"  he  said,  "you  are  a  good  man. 
I  can  see  that  in  your  face,  and  I  ain't  one  of  them 
as  can  be  sold.  But  I  tell  you  the  truth,  I  am  play- 
ing a  pretty  bold  game.  The  Yanks  have  destroyed 
every  skiff  on  the  river,  and  believe  they  have  full 


"  AS  INNOCi:NT  as  a  lamb."  453 

control  of  the  Mississippi.  They  have,  so  far  as  their 
gunboats  are  concerned ;  but  I  was  bom  in  Yankee 
land,  and  I  can  pull  the  wool  over  their  eyes.  I  have 
built  a  skiff,  which  is  now  out  in  the  gin-house.  It 
fits  like  a  box  in  a  wagon.  I  can  put  it  on  wheels, 
and  no  man  would  know  what  it  meant  but  myself. 
I  can  take  the  box  off  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  and 
after  I  have  sent  over  our  friends  I  can  put  the  box 
on  the  wagon  and  come  back  here  as  innocent  as  a 
lamb." 

"  I  am  delighted  to  hear  you  speak  so,  Mr.  Arkles," 
said  the  captain.  "I  suppose  you  took  your  oath  with 
a  mental  reservation.  Now  tell  me  when  you  can 
take  us  across." 

"  I  hope  to  be  able  to  put  you  over  to-night.  Mr. 
Rose,  of  Shreveport,  is  expected  here  every  hour  from 
Brandon.  He  is  a  splendid  fellow.  He  hates  Yan- 
kees like  the  devil  and  feels  proud  of  having  thinned 
oxit  a  few.  I  just  wish  we  had  more  men  like  him. 
I  bet  there  would  n't  be  many  Yankee  prisoners  taken. 
He  's  just  as  full  of  fight  as  a  wild-cat." 

*'I  shall  be  more  than  happy  to  get  over  the  river 
with  your  friend,  Mr.  Rose,"  said  the  captain  as  they 
walked  from  the  gin-house,  where  the  boat  was  con- 
cealed, to  the  house. 

The  residence  of  Mr.  Arkles  was  like  that  of  the 
majority  of  Southern  planters,  low  and  flat,  with  a 
wide  gallery  around  it.  As  they  sat  upon  the  piazza, 
after  the  evening  meal,  enjoying  their  pipes  while  they 
listened  to  Mr.  Arkles' s  description  of  the  Yankee 
advance  from  the  river  to  Yicksburg,  a  large  man, 
about  forty  years  of  age,  mounted  on  a  powerful 
horse,  rode  up  to  the  gallery  and  dismounted.     The 


454  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

animal  stood  quietly  while  the  rider,  after  dism  -)unt. 
ing,  lifted  off  the  heavy  saddle-bags  and  unloosed  the 
pistol  holsters  and  threw  them  over  his  arm.  He  was 
a  powerful  man,  over  six  feet  in  height,  with  coarse 
features,  rendered  more  repulsive  by  a  gash  over  the 
right  eye  and  a  broken  nose,  with  the  wide  nostrils 
starting,  apparently,  from  the  broad,  brown  face. 

Throwing  the  bridle  of  his  horse  to  a  black  man, 
who  approached  as  he  dismounted,  he  walked  with 
the  saddle-bags  and  holsters  on  his  powerful  arm  to- 
w^ard  the  house. 

"  Hello,  Arkles,  got  the  boat  all  right?"  asked 
Rose,  in  a  voice  so  familiar  that  Robert  could  hardly 
retain  his  seat. 

"Glad  to  see  you,  Rose.     Got  the  boat  safe  still. 

I  take  a  pride  in  being  able  to  fool  the  d d  Yan 

kees.  By  the  way,  come  over  here  ;"  this  was  said 
with  a  motion  "of  the  hand  to  Rose,  who  was  about 
to  enter  the  house.  "  Come,  I  want  to  introduce  you 
to  some  men  who  are  going  to  Texas." 

Rose  turned,  and,  with  a  suspicious  look  on  his 
coarse  face,  said,  as  he  shook  hands  with  the  party : 

"  Going  to  Texas,  are  yeh  ?  Well,  the  less  com- 
pany I  have  the  better ;  but  if  you  're  boun*  that  way 
I  reckon  w^e  kin  make  out  together.  Ever  in  Texas 
afore?" 

•'  Oh  yes ;  was  raised  there.  Have  relatives  liv- 
ing below  Houston.  Have  been  making  my  home  in 
Kentucky,  but  the  Yanks  are  in  there  now,  and  I  am 
going  west  to  spend  my  furlough — perhaps  to  join 
our  forces  over  there." 

"  Well,  I  believe  your  name  's  Clay  ;  is  it?" 

*'  Yes,  a  part  of  it,  Mr.  Rose." 


THE  HOUR  AND  THE  MAN".  45& 

•'Know  anybody  around  Brazoria,  perhaps?" 

*'0h,  lots  of  people." 

♦'  The  h — 1  you  say  !  Wall,  I  knows  some  of  'em, 
an'  I  reckon  some  of  'em  knows  Sam  Rose.  We  '11 
talk  agin  afore  we  start." 

Rose  called  Mr.  Arkles  aside  and  strode  into  the 
house. 

"  He  does  n't  know  us,  Robert,  but  we  know  him. 
Thank  God  for  this  chance.  I  have  prayed  for  it. 
When  we  drifted  off  on  that  raft  I  seemed  to  think 
more  of  meeting  this  fellow  and  living  for  it  than 
anything  else." 

'* Hush,  Gaines,"  said  the  captain.  "'Time  at  last 
sets  all  things  even.'  We  have  watched  our  hoiu". 
Come,  let  us  look  at  the  horses." 

The  scouts  went  to  the  stable,  where  Archy  was 
busy  cleaning  the  horses,  and  in  a  short  time  Mr. 
Arkles,  who  had  left  Rose  smoking  on  the  gallery^ 
joined  them. 

"Rose  is  narvous,"  said  Mr.  Arkles.  "  You  see  he 
has  a  whole  lot  of  letters  and  papers  and  money  for 
Kirby  Smith,  and  in  these  times  one  do  n't  know  who 
to  trust.  I  've  fixed  it  right,  I  reckon,  but  afore  you 
leave  to-night  won't  you  show  him  your  papers?" 

"  Why,  certainly,"  said  the  captain.  "I  will  show 
Mr.  Rose  my  papers  ;  and  say  to  him  for  me  that  I  ad- 
mire his  caution,  and  will  do  all  I  can  to  get  him  over 
the  river  safely." 

Mr.  Arkles  left  with  a  look  of  comfort  on  his  face, 
and  on  his  return  to  the  house  the  captain  convinced 
Mr.  Rose  of  his  earnestness  by  showing  his  papers  and 
offering  his  services  to  aid  him  in  his  important  un- 
dertakiog. 


456  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"  I  'm  glad  to  have  you  along,  sir ;  but  yeh  knows 
one  has  to  be  keerful.  I  've  seen  so  many  dogon'd 
skunks  that  I  've  begun  to  doubt  my  own .  brother — 
that  is,  I  would  doubt  him  if  I  had  one,"  added  Rose, 
correcting  himself. 

••  All  men  bound  by  kindred  interests,  or  battling 
for  a  common  principle,  are  brothers.  Let  me  hope," 
said  the  captain,  "that  no  fear  you  may  have  enter- 
tained may  prevent  your  confiding  in  me  fully  if  an 
occasion  should  arise." 

"  I  '11  lean  on  yeh,  cap.     Come,  let  *s  have  some 
of  Arkles's  old  peach  to  confirm  our  acquaintance  !  " 
All  the  men  availed  themselves  of  Rose's  invita- 
tion, and  after  the  old  peach  they  betook  themselves 
to  the  gallery  and  pipes. 

**  I  belong  to  Gould's  Cavalry,"  said  Rose,  in  answer 
to  an  inquiry  of  Gaines.  "  We  've  been  stationed  near 
Cadder  Lake  for  a  long  while,  but  when  Vicksburg 
went  up,  as  I  know'd  the  country  well,  I  was  detailed 
as  a  courier;  an',  atween  us,  I  makes  it  pay.'* 

"You  are  right,  Mr.  Rose,  to  take  care  of  No.  1, 
particularly  if  it  is  in  the  line  of  duty,'*  said  Rich- 
ardson, with  a  cold  smile. 

•♦  I  tell  you,  cap.,"  said  Rose,  turning  to  Robert  and 
blowing  a  cloud  of  smoke  from  his  corn-cob  pipe, 
"  I  came  near  making  a  pile  out  of  some  runaway 
fellers  from  the  part  of  the  country  you  are  going  to." 
•*  You  do  n't  say !  Tell  me  all  about  it,"  said 
Robert,  in  a  tone  of  genuine  interest. 

*' Wall,  yeh  see,  'twuz  in  the  spring  of  '61,  arter 
we  'd  voted  out,  thar  wuz  a  feller  named  Warren — 
maybe  yeh  know'd  him  ?  " 

"I  think  I  did,"  said  Robert,  seeing  that  Rose 
stopped  foi  <in  answer. 


BRAVADO.  457 

•*Tou  see,"  continued  Rose,  "this  feller  Warren, 
with  another  cuss  an*  a  nigger,  killed  a  whole  lot  of 
folks  in  the  woods  near  the  town  the  night  of  the 
election.  Wall,  they  runned  off  up  by  Marshall  an' 
the  lakes,  an'  a  chap  named  Bentley  arter  them." 

*•  Oh  yes,  Bentley  !  I  knew  Bentley  ;  he  was  after- 
wards in  the  Eighth  Texas  Cavalry.  Poor,  brave  fel- 
low, he  was  killed  last  year." 

Rose  waited  till  Robert  had  finished  before  he 
puffed  out  the  smoke,  which  swelled  his  brown  cheeks 
till  they  looked  as  if  they  would  burst. 

"Yas,  Bentley  wuz  purty  fair,  a  little  chicken- 
hearted  though  ;  but  Warren — glad  you  do  n't  know 
much  of  him ;  he  was  a  cuss.  Bentley  got  me  ter 
help  him  arter  Warren  an'  the  other  two.  A  party 
of  us  chased  'em  down  the  Shreveport  road,  an'  we  'd 
a  got '  em  as  sure  as  shootin'  if  it  was  n't  for  an  onery 
houn'  named  Tennessee  we  had  along.  He  helped 
'em  inter  the  bottom  whar  he  had  a  frien'  named  Tad, 
but  somehow  they  got  off,  though  I  never  see'd  sich 
a  flood  as  followed.  We  cotched  Tad,  though  he  fit 
like  a  catamount,  an'  wuz  wounded,  but  we  swung  the 
onery  whelp  to  a  tree  near  the  creek  an'  burned  down 
his  d d  shanty." 

' '  You  deserve  a  great  deal  of  credit  for  your  ser- 
vices, Mr.  Rose."  As  the  captain  spoke  his  lips  grew 
thin  and  hard-looking,  and  his  gray  eyes  seemed  to 
grow  black,  while  Gaines,  to  hide  his  own  feelings, 
walked  to  the  end  of  the  gallery.  Rose  did  not  notice 
the  change.  He  was  completely  off  his  guard,  and 
he  continued  with  an  air  of  bravado : 

*'I  think  if  ev'ry  one  did  his  duty  like  me  thar 
would  n't  be  many  Yankees  left.  I  often  thinks  oi 
39 


458  TTARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

that  spring  an'  the  number  of  onery  houj'^  I  helped 
string  up." 

"  I  presume  you  have  been  in  battle,  judging  from 
that  wound  on  your  face?"  said  the  captain,  in  an  in- 
quiring tone. 

"Wall,  no;  I've  never  been  egsactly  in  battle," 
said  Rose,  rubbing  his  finger  over  the  livid  wound  till 
it  left  a  white  mark  and  increased  the  hideousness  of 
his  face,  "but  I  got  that  in  a  fight  as  wuz  a  fight. 
Cuss  that  black-hearted  Warren,  I  say.  Every  time 
I  see  or  feel  this  woun'  I  cuss  the  houn',  an'  long  ter 
meet  him  an'  cut  his  Yankee  throat ! " 

Rose's  wound  became  more  livid,  his  eyes  rolled, 
and  the  thick  veins  stood  out  like  whip-cords  in  his 
bull-like  neck. 

"  Why,  I  did  not  suppose,  from  your  story,  that  you 
ever  saw  or  had  an  encounter  with  this  man  Warren," 
said  the  captain,  as  he  leaned  over  and  knocked  the 
ashes  from  his  pipe  on  the  edge  of  the  gallery. 

"  No  more  I  did  n't  fight  him,  'cept  one  night  in  the 
dark  ;  but  we  got  that  feller  Tennessee  arter,  an'  he 
alius  wuz  a  devil.  He  showed  fight,  and  mashed  me 
here  with  his  rifle." 

"  Of  course  you  hanged  this  fellow  you  call  Ten- 
nessee?" said  the  captain. 

"  Wall,  no,  but  we  tried  dogon'd  hard.  We  put  him 
in  jail  an'  give  him  a  fair  trial.  Of  course,  he  wuz 
sentinced  ;  we  all  know'd  that ;  but  somehow  he  got  off 
one  night,  an'  I  heerd  since  as  how  he'd  joined  Warren, 
who's  captain  or  suthin'  of  a  lot  of  horse- thieves." 

*'  You  don  't  tell  me  1  Is  this  Warren  still  in  the 
Yankee  army?"  asked  Richardson  with  the  shadow 
of  a  smile  on  his  quiet  face. 


CHIVALRIC  PRACTICES.  459 

"  Oh,  yes.  He 's  h — 1  on  bosses.  He  stole  "Whar- 
ton's hoss,  I  heard.  He  courts  southern  girls  inside 
our  lines.  An'  I  jist  heard  a  few  days  sinee  as  how 
he  writ  a  letter  to  Joe  Johnston.  He  can  make  him- 
self black  or  white.  I  heard  a  man  say  he  could 
grow  a  whole  crop  of  beard  in  one  night.  An'  some 
of  the  boys  thinks  the  devil  helps  him.  But  some 
day  they  '11  catch  him,  and  then  the  devil  won  't  save 
him.     That 's  what  I 's  got  to  say." 

Rose  refilled  his  pipe,  while  Robert  said  : 

"You  have  interested  me  very  much,  Mr.  Rose. 
Let  me  hope  this  fellow  Tennessee  had  enough 
property  to  confiscate  to  remunerate  you,  at  least  in 
satisfaction." 

"  No,  he  was  poor  as  a  Digger  Ingin  at  Christmas. 
He  had  a  wife  an'  some  children,  an'  a  shanty,  an'  he 
left  them  behind." 

"  That  would  be  rather  poor  stock  to  confiscate, 
Mr.  Rose?" 

"Yes,  poor  for  the  government,  but  cap,  'twas 
enough  for  me.  It  mayn  't  look  jes'  right  to  folks  as 
reads  the  Bible  an'  sings  hymns,  but  a  feller  as  has 
a  woun'  on  his  face,  an'  mad  in  his  heart,  don 't  stop 
ter  consult  about  goodness.  Some  one  fired  that  ar 
shanty  whar  Tennessee's  wife  lived,  an'  when  she  got 
another  that  was  fired  too.  She  wuz  a  sassy  white 
wench  as  ever  lived.  She  moved  up  to  Tyler,  but  her 
house  wuz  fired  thar.  An'  her  young  ones  got  sick, 
an'  tliar's  not  one  of  Tennessee's  whelps  a  livin'.  Of 
course  I  knows  nothin'  about  it.  His  wife 's  among 
the  Ingins,  I  hear.  It  don  't  pay  to  fool  with  Sam 
Rose." 

A  low  chuckle,  that  sent  the  hot  blood  back  from 


460  TTARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

the  flushed  cheeks  of  Robert  Warren,  succeeded  this 
Darration. 

"I  suppose  we  will  start  soon,  Mr.  Rose?  It  is 
nearly  dark  now." 

"  Yas,  jes'  as  scon  as  the  critters  feel  right.  They 
have  a  long  swim  before  them,"  replied  Rose. 

Robert  suggested  walking  down  to  see  t!ie  horses, 
but  Rose  announced  his  intention  to  take  no  unneces- 
sary exercise. 

At  the  stable  Archy  was  busy  with  the  horses,  and 
as  soon  as  the  captain  made  his  appearance,  he  called 
him  aside.  "  Mauss  Robut" — Archy  paused  as  if  to 
catch  his  breath. 

"  I  am  listening,  Archy." 

*' Mauss  Robut,  dat  'ar  man  as  own  dis  boss," 
pointing  to  Rose's,  "  dat  dar  man's  de  one  as  chased 
us  to  de  lakes.     Rose — don  't  you  ^member?  " 

*'  Yes,  I  remember.  And,  Archy,  I  propose  letting 
Mr.  Rose  know  before  the  sun  rises  again  that  I  have 
not  forgotten  it." 

**May  de  good  Lor*  help  yeh  to  press  dat  dar  on 
his  mine,"  said  Archy,  as  he  turned  to  brush  down 
the  horses. 

Calling  Graines,  wlio  was  boiling  over  with  anger, 
and  Richardson,  who  seemed  to  be  steely  cold,  to  one 
side,  he  hurriedly  told  them  his  plans,  and  gave  them 
the  signal  to  be  used  in  overpowering  Rose.  Then  they 
returned  to  the  house,  where  Rose  still  sat  smoking, 
and  stroking  his  beard,  and  making  white  marks  in 
his  purple  wound  with  his  thick  fingers. 

"  I've  just  ordered  the  boy  to  load  up  the  boat," 
said  Mr.  Arkles,  appearing  in  the  gallery.  "  It  will 
be  around  soon ;  and  as  it  fits  on  the  wagon  bed  just 


MODESTY  AND  MONEY.  461 

like  a  box,  why  you  can  all  pirt  your  saddle-bags  an* 
horse-traps  into  it." 

"  Thank  you,  Mr.  Arkles.  You  are  a  most  thought- 
ful man.  Permit  me  now  to  settle  with  you,  not  only 
for  your  hospitality,  but  also  for  our  journey  across 
^he  river.     How  much  will  it  be  ?  " 

*'  Well,  I  can  *t  just  say.  The  care  here  ain't  so 
much,  but  I  run  a  big  risk  of  losing  my  team,  and 
my  boy,  every  time,  and  then  if  the  Yankees  found 
me  out  they  would  raise  old  Cain  purty  high,  fur  you 
see  I  took  the  oath." 

' '  I  know  all  that,  of  course,  and  am  willing  to  pay 
for  your  risk,"  said  the  captain. 

*'  Things  has  riz  a  good  deal,"  said  Mr.  Arkles, 
stroking  his  beard.  I  value  that  team  an*  boy  this 
blessed  moment  at  eight  thousand  dollars." 

"  I  think  that  a  big  price,  sir,  but  I  assure  you  I 
have  no  desire  to  buy  them,"  said  the  captain,  laugh- 
ing at  the  exorbitant  sum. 

"  I  know,  but  if  I  lose  them  serving  you,  it 's  all  the 

same   as   if  I  sold   them  to   you.     Money  is   more 

plenty  than  it  was ;  I  only  wish  it  was  just  as  good." 

"  I  wish  it  was,  Mr.  Arkles.     Would  you  take  less 

in  Yankee  money  ? ' ' 

*' Of  course  he  would  nt  touch  the  exited  green 
stuff,"  bellowed  Rose,  with  a  coarse  laugh.  "  Pay 
him  five  hundred  apiece,  in  good  Confed.  That's 
plenty." 

"Yes,  that's  plenty,"  said  Mr.  Arkles. 
**  Your  modesty  quite  astounds  me,"  said  the  cap- 
tain.    *'  You  will  die  poor,  Mr.  Arkles,  but  of  course 
the  trifle  of  five  hundred  apiece  does  not  include  p<^v 
ment  for  your  princely  hospitality  ?  " 
S9* 


U%  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"That's  for  you  to  say,  captain.  I  want  to  help 
the  cause  all  I  can.  If  you  can  afford  to  give  me 
another  hundred  apiece,  all  right." 

Robert  had  an  abundance  of  the  gray  stuff  always 
on  hand,  and  he  paid  the  desired  sum.  As  he  was 
doing  so,  Mr.  Arkles  called  him  aside,  and  said  in  a 
whispe*  : 

"  Captain,  if  you  have  greenback's,  now  I'm  near 
the  Yankees  they  'd  be  more  useful.  I  '11  put  you  all 
through  for  fifty  dollars  apiece,  keep  and  all." 

"  I  wish  I  could  accommodate  you,  Mr  Arkles,  but 
I  have  not  that  amount." 

•'  How  much  have  you,  sir." 

"  Well,  not  over  one  hundred  dollars." 

**I'll  take  one  hundred  dollars  in  greenbacks  and 
half  the  amount  of  Confederate  I  asked,  if  it  will  suit 
you." 

"You  are  very  kind,  but  the  fact  is  I  keep  the 
greenbacks  as  a  curiosity.  Though  in  the  army  so 
long,  I  have  seen  but  little  of  this  Yankee  money, 
and  I  want  to  hold  onto  it." 

*•  All  right,  captain,  I  'd  rather  have  the  other,  but 
it  ain't  so  convenient." 

By  this  time  the  wagon  was  at  the  door,  driven  by  a 
stout-looking  negro  boy,  and  drawn  by  two  very  small 
mules.  Inside  the  boat  were  oars,  ropes,  pins  for  row- 
locks, and  bundles  of  hickory  bark  for  torches. 

"  Them  holes  in  the  back  part  of  the  boat,  and 
along  the  side,"  said  Mr.  Arkles,  as  he  held  the  light 
while  the  saddle-bags  were  being  p<ut  in,  "are  for 
pegs  to  fasten  your  horses  heads  to.  You  ^11  find, 
with  care,  that  it  won't  be  hard  to  cross." 

The  horses  were  saddled,  the  wagon  started.     The 


CROSSING  THE  MISSISSIPPI.  463 

men  shook  hands  with  Arkles,  and,  mounting,  followed 
the  wagon  down  the  sandy  road.  Under  moss-cov- 
ered branches,  down  heavy  descents  the  wagon  kept 
on  for  more  than  an  hour ;  then,  followed  by  the 
horsemen,  it  descended  a  ravine,  along  wich  flowed  a 
black  creek  bordered  by  cypress  trees.  A  few  hundred 
yards  down  the  wagon  halted.  A  cold  breeze  and  a 
low  murmur,  with  an  undefined  background  to  a 
broad  expanse,  told  them  they  were  on  the  banks  of 
"  The  Father  of  Waters." 

"Heah's  de  place,  gemmens,"  said  the  black  boy, 
leaping  from  the  wagon. 

•'  "Were  you  ever  over  here  before?"  asked  Kobert. 

**  Gosh-a-massy !  nearly  ebery  night,  for  a  long 
time,"  answered  the  black  boy,  as  he  proceeded  to 
unhitch  his  mules  and  fasten  them  to  an  adjoining  tree. 

The  horses  were  quickly  unsaddled,  and  it  proved  an 
easy  job  for  the  strong  arms  to  lift  off  the  boat  and 
launch  it  in  the  black  creek,  that  was  swallowed 
up  in  the  great  river  a  few  yards  down.  The  saddles 
and  bridles,  with  Rose's  mail-bags  and  the  rest  of  the 
impediments,  were  stowed  carefully  away.  The  horses 
were  allowed  to  cool  off  for  a  few  minutes  before 
leading  them  into  the  water.  Then  they  were  made 
fast  to  the  pins.  Archy  and  the  "boy"  took  the 
oars.  Robert  appointed  himself  coxswain,  with  Rose 
sitting  at  his  feet,  while  the  other  two  were  detailed 
to  shorten  the  ropes  and  keep  the  horses  close  to  the 
boat.  Robert  had  Senor  along,  and  that  noble  animal 
was  as  dainty  of  wetting  himself  as  was  the  ill-starred 
Don. 

This  was  no  ordinary  undertaking,  the  crossing  of 
a  wide,  deep  river  on  a  dark  night,  with  a  frail  shell 


46i-    '  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

of  a  boat,  and  five  struggling,  panting  horses  fastened  , 
to  the  side. 

*' All  ready,  mauss,"  said  the  black  boy. 

"  All  ready,"  echoed  the  men.    The  oars  were  driven 
into  the  muddy  bank,  the  boat  floated  off,  and  the 
horses  followed,  encouraged  by  the  words  of  the  men 
in  the  boat.    Out  to  the  great  river  the  horses  waded ; 
deeper  and  deeper  the  water  became.     With  power- 
ful strokes  the  black  men  bent  to  the  oars.     A  few- 
pulls  in  the  swift  current,  and  with  a  wild  plunge  the 
horses  descended  and  struggled  to  the  side  of  the 
boat,  as  if  for  protection.     One  mile  before  them 
the  river  stretched,  but  every  stroke  lessened  the  dis- 
tance.    The  explosive  breathings  of  the  frightened 
animals  became  louder,  and  the  men  strained  their 
eyes  for  the  farther  shore.     Out  farther  and  farther, 
till  the  middle  of  the  stream  was  gained,  and  a  black, 
shadowy  outline  was  marked  against  the  starry  sky, 
and  told  them  of  the  Louisiana  shore.     A  feeling  of 
safety  came  over  the  party  in  the  little  boat,  but  it 
came  quickly  to  be  dispelled.     Down  the  dark  river 
rolled  the  tolling  of  a  bell,  with  a  puff,  puff,  puff,  like 
the  breathing  of  a  river  monster,  and  an  instant  after- 
ward the  lights  from  the  gunboat  rounding  the  bend 
above  flooded  the  hitherto  gloomy  river,  and  rendered 
visible  the  anxious  faces  in  the  boat  and  the  strug- 
gling horses  alongside.     The  black  men,  with  their 
brawny  arms  bared,  threw  their  souls  into  their  oars, 
and  the  boat  moved  faster  than  the  horses.     This 
would  not  do.     The  position  was  critical  in  the  ex- 
treme.    The  patrol  boat  must  discover  them,  and,  sup- 
posing them  foes,  a  shower  of  grape  would  send  the 
boat  to  the  bottom  of  the  river  with  its  loyal  and 


A  NARROW  ESCAPE.  465 

traitor  inmates.  The  full  force  of  the  position  flashed 
upon  Robert,  and  for  the  time  a  feeling  of  horror  ran 
through  him,  such  as  he  had  never  before  experienced. 
Nearer  and  nearer  came  the  boat.  It  appeared  to  be 
rushing  down  on  them  as  if  aware  of  their  whereabouts. 
The  black  men  showed  signs  of  tiring,  and  at  Robert's 
request,  Gaines  and  Richardson  took  their  places  and 
bent  to  the  oars.  The  steamer  was  abreast  of  them  ; 
men  were  seen  hurrying  along  the  deck ;  the  whistle 
Bounded,  there  was  a  roar  of  escaping  steam,  and  the 
vessel  became  stationary. 

The  panting  of  the  horses  seemed  to  increase,  and 
the  oars  in  the  row-locks  creaked  as  if  they  could  be 
heard  across  the  river. 

*'  Oh,  God !  let  the  horses  go ;  let  the  horses  go  I 
We  '11  be  caught— pull,  pull,  pull !" 

As  Rose  spoke  he  made  an  effort  to  untie  one  of 
the  horses,  but  the  captain  bent  forward  and  caught 
his  arm. 

"  Hold,  there !  Do  n't  dare  to  unfasten  a  horse. 
Work  easy,  men,  so  as  to  keep  about  stationary." 
This  was  said  as  Robert  turned  the  boat's  head  up  and 
waited  the  result. 

* '  Let  me  throw  over  my  saddle-bags,  capting.  My 
Lor* ,  if  the  Yanks  wuz  to  git  them !" 

**  Be  still,  sir.  I '  11  talk  to  you  if  ^^e  ever  get  on  shore  !" 

Rose  cowered  down  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat  with 
his  livid  face  turned  to  the  light,  and  an  expression  of 
fear  upon  it  that  made  it  perfectly  hideous. 

Another  whistle  from  the  steamer,  more  hurrying 
along  the  deck  with  moving  lights,  then  came  the 
steady  puff,  puff,  puff,  and  the  gunboat  Rattler  steamed 
down  toward  Rodney. 


66  WAKREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"  Pull  away,  boys,  the  danger  is  past,"  said  the  cap« 
tain  in  a  cheerful  voice. 

"  Yes,  pull  away,  boys  !"  said  Rose,  sitting  up  in 
the  boat. 

A  few  minutes,  and  the  horses  began  to  stagger 
along  the  unreliable  bottom.  The  shingling  shore 
was  seen  running  out,  and  a  few  strokes  shot  the  flat- 
bottomed  boat  on  the  gravelly  beach,  to  which  the 
rowers  leaped  with  an  exclamation  of  delight. 

"  By  thunder,  that  was  nearer  to  the  Yankees  than  I 
ever  want  to  be  agin,"  said  Rose  as  he  jumped  on 
shore  with  his  saddle-bags. 

"  Let  the  horses  rest  before  saddling  up.  Boy,  do 
you  return  to  Mr.  Arkles's  to-night?" 

•'  Yes,  mauss  ;  I  alius  does  when  I  comes  down." 

*'  "Well,  you  have  done  nobly.  I  am  sorry  you  have 
to  go  back  alone.     Light  one  of  those  torches." 

"  The  boy  lighted  the  torch,  and  Robert  handed 
him  a  Confederate  bill  of  a  denomination  so  large 
that  it  astonished  Rose,  who  stood  near  by,  and  raised 
the  donor  very  much  in  his  estimation,  while  it  evoked 
a  torrent  of  verbal  gratitude  from  the  black  boy,  who 
became  quite  patriarchal  in  his  prayers  and  blessings 
"  for  de  young  mauss." 

The  black  boy  pushed  off  the  boat,  bade  all  good 
night,  and  was  soon  lost  to  sight  on  the  river  and  in 
the  darkness.     As  they  saddled  up,  Robert  asked  : 

**  Where  do  you  intend  stopping  for  the  rest  of  the 
night.  Rose  ?  Our  horses  are  fatigued  by  this  swim, 
and  I  would  rather  not  ride  very  far." 

""Wall,  cap.,  thar's  a  place  back  heah  a  mile  whar 
we  raout  stop,  but  reckon  'taint  safe,  coz  the  Yankee 
cavalry  scout  along  thar.     We  'd  better  git  back  eight 


OVER  THE  RIVER.  467 

miles  ter  the  Washita  distreeck ;  it 's  safe  that,  aif  we 
kin  res'  to-mon'ow  mornin'." 

"  Glad  to  see  you  so  prudent,  Rose.  We  will  ride 
for  the  Washita." 

Up  from  the  river  the  little  party  rode,  Rose  to  the 
left  of  the  captain,  the  others  immediately  behind. 

"  I  tell  you,  I  '11  never  get  this  night  out  of  my 
mind,"  said  Rose  after  they  had  ridden  some  distance 
in  silence.  "  I  do  n't  know  what  in  thunder  I  'd  a  did 
if  you  wuz  n't  along." 

"  Oh,  you  are  a  brave  fellow,  Rose  !  You  would 
have  made  out  all  right." 

"  I  ain't  so  sure  about  making  out.  I  'd  cut  the 
horse  loose,  anyhow." 

"  Yes,  and  the  horse  would  have  gone  for  the  light, 
and  let  the  cat  out  of  the  bag  at  once.  However,  'a 
miss  is  as  good  as  a  mile.'  My  only  fear  was  that 
this  crossing  might  be  discovered,  and  then  I  would 
have  a  tough  time  getting  back  next  month  when  my 
leave  expires." 

"  You  would  n't  go  back  this  way,  at  any  rate.  Of 
course  not.     I'll  fix  you  for  that  before  we  part." 

"What?  Tell  me  how  I  can  cross  from  this  sidel" 

*'  Sartin,  I  kin  ;  an'  as  you  've  got  ter  know,  I  do  n't 
mine  lettin'  it  right  out.  Yeh  mus'  go  down  ter 
Waterproof— 'tain' t  far  below  this— an'  hunt  up  Dr. 
Campbell :  he  lives  up  the  river  from  the  town  an' 
right  on  the  bluff.  He  's  got  a  boat,  but  of  course 
he  '11  lie  about  it  at  first  till  he  knows  yer  all  right. 
He 's  sound  on  the  Confederacy,  an'  '11  put  yon  over  for 
less  than  you  give  that  cuss  Arkles.  But  be  keerfui ; 
the  doctor  trades  with  the  Yankees.  He  took  the 
oath,  but  says  he  did  it  with  a  reservation."     As  Rose 


468  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

finished  he  took  a  large  chew  of  tobacco  and  tried  to 
laugh. 

"I  do  n't  think  the  Yankees  are  as  bad  as  you  im- 
agine, Rose."  They  were  now  about  two  miles  from 
the  river,  and  as  the  captain  spoke  he  placed  his  horse 
nearer  to  Rose,  and  quietly  loosened  a  pistol  in  tbo 
holster. 

"Bad,  did  you  say?" 

"Yes,  that's  what  I  said." 

"Why  cap,  the  very  devils  are  angels  compared  to 
*em.  Grod,  ef  I  had  the  power  I '  d  crush  them  out  as 
I  would  snakes — I've  helped  do  it  to  some  on  'em." 

**I  was  in  their  hands  for  some  time ;  they  treat 
prisoners  very  justly.  Now  if  they  had  captured  us 
this  evening,  they  would  have  been  very  considerate 
of  your  claims  to  clemency." 

"By  G — ,  sir;  I 'd  rather  be  dead !  I  never  want 
to  try  it." 

"You  don't!" 

"Why,  Lor',  no! 

"You  must,  sir;  I  am  a  Yankee,  and  you  are  my 
prisoner." 

A  scream  of  fear  and  rage  burst  from  Rose's  lips 
as  he  drove  his  spurs  into  his  horse  and  tried  to  break 
away.  But  a  man  who  in  days  gone  past  had  often 
leaped  from  a  horse  while  at  full  gallop,  lariat  in  hand, 
was  by  his  side,  and  in  an  instant  Rose  was  dashed 
to  the  ground,  with  Archy's  knee  on  his  breast  and 
Archy's  hand  at  his  throat.  Gaines  and  Richardson 
dismounted,  and  with  their  pistols  cocked  they  per- 
mitted Rose  to  rise.  A  toiTent  of  oaths  and  impre- 
cations came  from  Rose  as  he  staggered  to  his  feet. 

"Gag  him,  and  w^e  will  tie  him  to  his  horse.'*    The 


A  PICTURE  OF  FIERCE  DESPAIR.  489 

order  was  obeyed  despite  the  struggles  of  Rose,  and 
with  his  arms  fastened  behind  him,  and  his  legs  tied 
imder  the  saddle,  and  the  bridle  in  Archy's  hand,  the 
scouts  turned  their  horses'  heads  north  for  the  penin- 
sula before  Vicksburg. 

By  daylight  they  stopped  near  a  plantation,  where 
Richardson  obtained  com  for  the  animals  and  food 
for  the  men,  and  carried  it  out  to  camp.  The  pris- 
oner was  unbound,  and  the  gag  taken  from  his  mouth, 
on  his  promising  not  to  attempt  escape.  He  sat  on 
the  ground,  the  picture  of  fierce  despair,  muttering 
low  curses  and  following  Robert  with  his  eyes.  He 
wished  to  ask  a  question,  and  at  length  he  managed 
in  a  hoarse,  choking  voice  to  say  :  "Ain't  you  War- 
ren ?  say,  ain't  yon  Warren  ?" 

"  Yes,  my  name  is  Warren  ;  I  know  you  by  reputa- 
tion very  well." 

"  You  are  going  to  hang  me,  ain't  you  ?  Wall,  hang 
and  be  d -d  ;  I  *ve  paid  you  aforehand." 

"I  purpose  taking  you  to  Yicksburg,  and  handing 
you  over  to  General  Osterhaus.  I  can't  imagine  what 
he  will  do  with  such  a  fiend  as  you  are  by  your  own 
confession." 

"  See  heab,  Warren,  I  allcrs  heard  you  wui  a  brar© 
man.  Give  me  a  chance  for  my  life.  Let  me  run 
for  it,  an'  kill  me  if  yeh  catch  me." 

**I  am  not  anxious  for  such  hunts.  If  you  had  a 
spark  of  manhood  about  you,  I  would  do  all  I  could 
to  make  your  position  easier,  but  I  cannot  forget  my 
own  sufferings,  Tad's  death,  the  burning  of  Tennessee's 
shanty,  and  the  death  of  his  little  ones.  Talk  no  more 
to  me — I  may  be  tempted  to  forget  myself  and  hang 
you  on  the  spot." 

40 


470  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

••I  did  n't  kill  the  young  ones.  I  swar  they  died  of 
sickness.  It  was  n't  my  fault."  A  shudder  ran  through 
Rose's  frame,  and  he  closed  his  eyes  tightly  as  he  spoke, 
as  if  to  shut  out  some  fearful  picture  brought  to  view 
by  the  naming  of  *' Tennessee's  children." 

Robert  was  more  excited  than  he  seemed,  for  he 
had  catalogued  the  wickedness  of  the  fiend  before 
him,  and  the  hot  blood  throbbed  in  his  usually  cool 
head.  Brave  Tennessee  covered  with  wounds,  his 
little  home  in  ruins,  his  little  ones  dead,  his  wife 
among  the  Indians — all  this  flashed  through  Rob- 
ert's mind.  Much  of  this  suffering,  he  thought, 
had  been  brought  on  the  noble-hearted  Tennessee 
by  his  fidelity  to  himself,  Robert  Warren.  If  Tennes- 
see w^ere  with  him  then,  the  wretch  before  him  would 
not  live  a  moment. 

Robert  walked  away  and  talked  with  Gaines. 

**I  would  hang  him  on  the  spot,  captain;  such  a 
brute  ought  not  to  live  a  moment,"  said  G-aines,  ex- 
citedly. 

**I  would  not,"  said  Richardson ;  "we  are  within 
ten  miles  of  Vicksburg ;  let  us  start  at  once  and  hand 
this  villain  over  to  the  proper  authorities.  All  his 
boasted  crimes  may  be  lies.  What  he  did  that  you 
know  of,  that  terrible  purple  wound  and  disfigured 
face  has  paid  for." 

"You  are  right,  Richardson,  you  are  right.  Let  us 
start  at  once."  Robert  turned  as  he  spoke,  startled 
by  a  yell,  and  to  see  Rose  with  a  knife  in  his  hand 
rushing  in  the  opposite  direction  to  where  he  stood. 
It  was  unnecessary  to  shout  "Archy !  Archy !  after 
him,  quick !"  as  all  seized  their  pistols  and  started  in 
pursuit. 


ESCAPE,  RECAPTURE,  AND  DEATH.  471 

Archy  was  not  ten  yards  behind  the  fugitive,  who, 
nerved  by  desperation,  seemed  to  fly  over  the  ground* 
He  was  older  and  heavier  than  Archy,  but  in  activity, 
strength,  and  fleetness,  far  his  inferior.     The  race  was 
short.     A  fence  barred  the  advance  unexpectedly, 
and  then  Eose  turned  with  uplifted  knife  and  struck 
his  pursuer,  who  was  close  upon  him.     Archy  caught 
the  arm  that  held  the  knife,  and  the  weapon  dropped 
from  the  relaxed  fingers.     Then  both  men  clinched  ; 
it  was  but  for  a  second.     Stepping  on  a  frail  stick, 
Archy  slipped,  with  his  arms  about  Rose,  and  both 
men  fell,  Archy  below.     Quick  as  a  flash  Rose  seized 
the  knife,  and  tried  to  disengage  his  arm  for  the  blow, 
but  before   he   could   raise   it,   Richardson's   pistol 
flashed,  and  Rose  leaped  back  and  fell  with  a  small 
red  hole  in  his  forehead  above  the  purple  wound. 
"Why,  Archy,  what  are  you  good  for?" 
"Why,  I  cotched  him,  an'  was  n't  watchin'.    Why, 
Mauss  Robut,   I  jest  wish  yeh'd  let  us  alone  two 
minutes  more,  I  'd  a  had  his  throat  in  my  hand,  an'  you 
know  that's  short  work." 

A  few  tremors  of  the  powerful  frame,  a  spasmodic 
gasping  as  if  struggling  to  retain  the  spirit,  and  Rose 
lay  dead  'neath  the  fence.  A  search  of  his  person 
discovered  valuable  dispatches  for  Smith  and  Magru- 
der. 

Returning  to  camp  they  mounted  hastily,  and  as 
they  were  about  to  start  a  negro  came  in,  to  whom 
Robert  paid  some  money  on  his  promising  to  bury 
Rose. 

Back  safely  to  Vicksburg  the  scouting  party  got, 
with  information  more  valuable  than  was  expected. 
This  exploit  was  so  well  managed  that  Warren  ex- 


472  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

changed  "the  knightly  bars"  for  "  the  golden  leaves,** 
and  received  a  special  mention  from  his  superior 
officer.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  Mr.  Arkles  was 
attended  to,  and  that  Dr.  Campbell  at  Waterproof 
had  his  trade  and  his  boat  cut  off. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 


IN   HOSPITAL. 

Shortly  after  the  adventure  narrated  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter,  the  scouts  were  ordered  to  report  to 
General  Rosecrans,  then  advancing  after  Bragg  through 
the  mountain  fastnesses  of  Northwestern  Georgia. 
Tennessee,  whose  acquaintance  with  that  region  was 
invaluable,  had  been  ordered  on,  and  now  the  rest 
were  going  to  the  field  of  greater  activities.  Unfortu- 
nately for  Robert  Warren,  he  was  at  this  time  attacked 
by  the  malarious  fever  incident  to  the  lower  valley 
of  the  Mississippi  and  particularly  to  the  region  along 
the  Big  Black  and  Yazoo.  He  was  forced  for  the 
time  to  remain  behind,  and  it  pained  him  more  than 
his  illness  to  part  with  his  friends  Gaines  and  Rich- 
ardson. Archy  of  course  staid  behind  and  watched 
his  master  during  the  first  week  of  delirium  and  fever. 
At  his  request  Mary  was  not  informed  of  his  illness, 
and  knowing  that  the  fever  was  not  fatal  he  waited 
patiently  till  it  spent  its  force.  During  the  period  of 
his  convalescence,  he  was  placed  on  light  post  duty, 
though  he  yearned  to  be  with  Rosecrans  and  his  own 
men.  The  incident  of  his  illness  changed  the  whole 
course  of  his  subsequent  military  career,  and  though 
it  deprived  him  of  the  excitement  incident  to  the 
movements  of  large  armies,  it  increased  his  oppor- 
tunities for  individual  adventures,  and  gave  him  as 
40* 


474  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

good  a  chance  for  the  display  of  his  'undoubted  abil- 
ities. Sherman's  raid  on  Meridian  was  one  of  the 
boldest,  and  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  most  futile 
expeditions  of  the  war,  and  had  that  famous  officer's 
military  record  closed  with  this  exploit  his  name 
would  be  much  less  brilliant ;  and  yet  the  undertaking 
in  the  hands  of  any  other  man  would  have  been  more 
than  a  failure — it  would  have  been  a  complete  disaster. 
For  some  time  prior  to  the  raid  on  Meridian,  Western 
and  Central  Mississippi  was  the  scene  of  constant 
skirmishes,  and  the  scouting  ground  of  small  bodies 
from  either  side. 

Robert  Warren  was  retained  by  G-eneral  Osterhaus 
at  Vicksburg  much  against  his  wish.  The  destruction 
of  a  few  secreted  boats  on  the  Mississippi  did  not 
stop  the  crossing  of  mails ;  had  it  done  so  it  would 
have  been  little  to  the  credit  of  the  Confederates, 
who  had  ample  opportunity  to  cross,  in  the  abscence 
of  patrol  boats,  at  any  point  between  Memphis  and 
New  Orleans.  Mails  were  not  only  crossed  nightly, 
but  herds  of  cattle  from  Texas  were  swum  over  below 
Natchez,  and  the  Confederates  becoming  familiar 
with  the  once  dreaded  gunboats,  sent  light  batteries 
to  the  wooded  bends  of  the  river,  where  they  proved 
a  constant  annoyance  to  the  steamers,  and  necessi- 
tated the  organization  of  a  number  of  small  land  ex- 
peditions against  them.  The  country  between  Water- 
proof and  Natchez  was  particularly  dangerous,  owing 
to  the  constant  annoyance  of  Smith's  gang  and  their 
artillery.  This  Smith  was  a  German  who  had  been 
an  artillery  officer  in  his  own  country.  Before  the 
war  he  drifted  into  Waterproof,  and  after  hostilities 
began  he  went  into  the  Southern  army,  more  from  a 


IN  THE  SADDLE  AGAIN.  475 

love  of  excitement  than  any  prompting  of  principle. 
He  knew  enough  of  military  movements  to  be  looked  up 
to  with  admiration  by  his  followers,  and  his  want  of 
feeling  and  natural  cruelty  stood  for  the  hate  and 
vindictiveness  of  the  men  he  had  gathered  about  him. 
He  was,  like  all  innate  cowards,  much  given  to  brag- 
ging, and  one  of  his  boasts  was  the  hanging  of  a  poor 
drunken  Yankee  caught  away  from  his  command. 
The  planters  along  the  river  were  in  league  with 
Smith,  and  when  he  was  pursued  his  forces  always 
scattered,  and  were  sure  to  be  secreted  in  the  differ- 
ent plantations  bordering  the  Mississippi. 

About  the  middle  of  September  a  fugitive  negro 
came  to  Rodney,  below  Vicksburg,  and  reported  Smith 
with  some  sixty  men  at  Holcomb's,  thirty  miles  down 
the  river,  where  he  was  preparing  for  a  raid.  The 
soldiers  and  sailors  stationed  at  llodney  owed  Smith 
a  grudge,  for,  a  short  time  before,  in  the  abscence  of 
troops,  a  number  of  officers  from  the  gunboat  Rattler 
went  on  shore  to  church,  and  during  the  service  Smith's 
men  appeared,  stopped  the  clergyman  with  their 
cocked  revolvers,  and  carried  the  officers  away  pris- 
oners. The  news  of  Smith's  proximity  was  speedily 
sent  to  Ticksburg,  and  a  cavalry  force  organized  to 
hunt  him.  Warren  was  given  command  of  the  expe- 
dition, and,  though  not  fully  recovered  from  his  fever, 
the  prospect  of  active  service  had  a  better  effect  than 
all  the  medicine  at  the  corps  hospital. 

Much  of  the  country  to  be  passed  over  was  already 
familiar  by  the  advance  on  Vicksburg  and  the  fre- 
quent scouts  before  and  after  the  siege.  This  fact, 
added  to  the  success  which  had  attended  Warren's 
previous  service,  was  the  cause  of  his  selection,  and 


476  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

he  determined,  as  his  force  of  one  hundred  men  started 
southeast  from  the  Wahiut  Hills,  that  the  confidence 
of  his  superiors  should  not  be  misplaced.  Captain 
Rolston  and  Lieutenant  Thomas,  of  Missouri,  as  brave 
men  as  ever  carried  saber,  accompanied  the  expedi- 
tion, and,  being  both  young  and  unused  to  this  kind  of 
service,  they  looked  up  to  Warren  as  a. veritable  hero, 
and  felt  proud  to  be  under  an  officer  who  had  been 
so  successful. 

The  evening  of  the  day  on  which  they  started  from 
Vicksburg  they  went  into  camp  below  Warrenton,  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Big  Black.  The  position  was 
elevated,  overlooking  the  river,  and  surrounded  by 
great  gloomy  trees,  that  spread  away  to  the  river 
and  along  it  in  dark  green  vistas,  that  grew  gloomy 
and  weird-looking  by  the  light  of  the  camp,  as  the 
evening  wind  shook  the  heavy  live-oak  branches, 
and  the  long,  gray  moss  swung  back  and  forth  with  a 
chilling,  mysterious  sound.  The  men  had  picketed 
their  horses  and  eaten  their  suppers ;  the  videttes 
were  stationed,  and  about  the  blazing  fires,  that  shone 
on  trees  adorned  with  sabers  and  carbines,  the  bronzed 
soldiers  reclined  and  smoked  with  as  much  happiness 
as  if  on  a  picnic  near  their  northern  homes.  The 
fire  about  which  the  officers  gathered,  and  where 
Archy  was  the  presiding  spirit,  was  below  the  main 
camp,  and  on  the  only  line  by  which  an  enemy  could 
approach  on  that  side  of  the  river.  Suddenly,  on  the 
opposite  shore  of  the  Big  Black,  a  score  of  camp- 
fires  lit  the  crest  of  the  hill  and  drove  the  shadows 
from  the  live-oaks.  Forms  in  gray  were  busy  about 
them,  and  wearied  horses,  relieved  of  their  saddles, 
rolled   on   the  mossy  earth.     Down  to  the  river  th« 


OUTPOST  COURTESIES.  47^ 

rebel  soldiers,  either  unconscious  of  or  uncaring  for 
the  fire  on  the  opposite  bank,  so  visible,  came  to  water 
their  horses  and  wash  their  own  dust-covered  faces. 
The  proceeding  was  very  strange ;  and  Warren,  who 
had  no  desire  at  that  time  to  bring  on  a  useless 
skirmish  across  the  river,  had  everything  in  readiness 
for  an  attack.  The  river  at  this  point  was  about  six 
hundred  feet  across,  and  the  distance  between  the 
two  camps  certainly  not  over  twice  that  distance. 
The  Union  cavalrymen,  in  the  indistinct  light,  could 
see  a  number  of  men  examining  the  trees  with  a  torch 
along  the  opposite  shore.  At  length  one  of  them 
gave  a  very  inelegant  expression  of  surprise,  and 
shouted  out : 

**  I »ve  got  it,  I  sirear  to  h— 1 1 " 

This  increased  the  mystery  of  the  search  to  the 
Union  men,  particularly  when  an  axe  was  seen  gleam- 
ing in  the  torchlight  and  the  faint  strokes  came  over 
the  river,  as  the  instrument,  swung  by  a  stalwart 
fellow,  was  buried  again  and  again  in  the  root  of 
the  tree. 

All  this  was  too  much  for  the  curiosity  of  a  cavalry- 
man up  the  river.  He  approached  the  water,  and, 
placing  his  hands  to  his  mouth  the  better  to  convey 
the  sound,  he  called  out : 

♦'  Hello  there  ! " 

The  reply  came  back : 

"  Hello  thar  yerself,  an'  see  how  ye  '11  like  it  I  ** 

**  Say,  say  ! "  from  the  cavalryman. 

••  Say  away  !  "  from  the  rebel. 

"Are  you  fellows  Johnnies?" 

Over  the  river  came  the  answer : 

"  Bet  yer  bottom  dollar  we  are." 


478  WAEREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"  What  in  thunder  are  you  cuttin'  that  little  tree 
for?     It  ain't  done  you  no  harm,"  from  tke  Yankee. 

**No!  Tt'sgoin*  to  do  us  a  power  of  good,"  an- 
swered the  rebel. 

"Well,  tell  us  what  it's  fori"  roared  the  cavalry- 
man, whose  curiosity  grew  more  excited. 

"  Why,  you  blue-bellied  son  of  a  gun,  we  *re  gittin' 
sassafras  to  make  coffee  ! " 

This  reply  was  so  unexpected,  so  harmless,  and  so 
probable,  that  it  was  hailed  with  a  shout  of  merriment 
from  the  Union  camp. 

*'  Come  over  here  and  get  some  real  coffee  ! "  called 
out  one  of  the  Yankees. 

The  words  "  real  coffee  "  seemed  to  have  a  magical 
effect  on  the  men  about  the  sassafras  tree.  They 
stopped,  held  a  short  consultation,  sent  one  of  their 
number  up  the  hill,  and  then  the  man  with  the  torch 
walked  out  and  stood  so  distinctly  visible  against  the 
dark  background  of  the  hill,  that  any  man  on  the 
opposite  shore  could  have  killed  him  with  his  carbine. 
Among  the  old  soldiers  of  both  sides,  however,  an 
unarmed  man  on  the  picket  line  was  safe,  and  the 
pickets  themselves,  when  not  ordered  to  fire  by  their 
officers ;  and  even  at  such  times  it  was  customary  to 
give  warning  in  the  words  of  the  negro  song,  "  Look 
out  dar  now,  I  'se  a-gwine  to  shoot,"  or  "Hunt  yer 
hole,  Johnny,"  or  "Yank,"  as  the  case  might  be. 

The  man  with  the  torch  waved  it  like  a  truce  signal, 
and  believing  he  had  commanded  the  attention  of 
the  men  on  the  opposite  shore,  he  called  out : 

"  Who  are  you  ?     What  Yanks  ?  " 

Wan-en,  with  his  officers,  staid  quietly  back  during 
the  conversation. 


BARTER.  479 

"We're  from  Yicksburg,  out  on  a  hunt.  Come 
over  an'  get  yer  coffee." 

"See  here,  Yank,  we  're  squar'  soldiers  over  heah— 
Major  Dwight's  battalion.  If  we  send  will  you  let  us 
come  back  with  the  coffee?" 

This  was  a  poser.  One  of  the  men  came  running 
back  to  where  the  officers  stood,  and,  saluting  the 
major,  he  asked : 

♦'Major  Warren,  would  you  have  any  objection  to 
our  trading  some  coffee  with  the  Johnnies  for  to- 
bacco?" 

"  Not  in  the  least,  if  you  can  inform  me  how  it  is 
to  be  done." 

"  There 's  a  canoe,  sir,  just  above  here ;  we  could 
send  it  over." 

«*  Yes,  but  suppose  the  Johnnies  keep  the  canoe  and 
man?" 

"  Why,  major,  you  do  n*t  think  they  'd  be  so  dam  'd 
mean  as  that?" 

The  possibility  of  such  a  thing  being  done  never 
entered  into  the  soldier's  head. 

"  See  what  they  say,"  said  Warren.  "  Do  n't  send 
any  coffee  with  the  canoe ;  they  must  come  over  for 
it." 

"  Thank  you,  sir,"  said  the  soldier,  in  a  rejoiced 
tone,  as  he  saluted  and  started  back  to  the  river." 

A  large  number  of  gray-coats  without  arms  came 
down  from  the  camp-fires,  while  the  man  with  the 
torch  waved  it  in  fiery  circles  above  his  head,  either 
to  keep  it  burning  or  from  excitement  at  the  prospect 
of  getting  some  real  coffee. 

"  Have  you  fellows  a  boat  ?  "  called  out  a  Yankee. 
"Nary  boat ;  but  we  can  make  a  raft." 


480  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

**  Never  mind  the  raft ;  we  '11  send  over  a  canoe/' 
said  the  Yankee. 

A  score  of  men  was  ready  to  volunteer.  One  stal- 
wart young  fellow  stepped  in,  and,  seizing  the  paddle, 
pushed  into  the  river,  and  was  watched  by  the  anxious 
crowds  on  each  side  till  he  touched  the  opposite 
shore. 

The  noise  of  his  greeting,  "How  are  you,  Yank? 
Glad  to  see  you  I  Whar  's  the  coffee?"  and  kindred 
salutations  were  distinctly  audible  on  the  opposite 
side.  In  few  minutes  the  canoe  was  seen  returning 
with  two  additional  occupants,  who  were  met  with  a 
greeting  as  warm  as  the  Yankee  had  received.  The 
coffee  was  soon  forthcoming  and  the  tobacco  delivered, 
and,  after  shaking  hands  all  aroimd,  the  Union  cav- 
alryman carried  the  Confederate  over  the  river  and 
returned  with  the  canoe. 

The  camp-fires  burned  more  brightly  for  the  short 
visit  of  peace,  and  more  than  one  man  on  the  oppo- 
site banks  prayed  that  it  might  be  speedily  made 
permanent.  Just  before  nine  o'clock  the  song  of 
**  Auld  Lang  Syne"  was  started  by  one  of  the  Union 
soldiers,  and  it  spread  like  a  pleasant  contagion  from 
fire  to  fire.  Over  the  black  river  it  floated,  and  was 
taken  up  by  the  men  who  had  just  drank  real  coffee 
provided  by  their  enemies,  and  the  last  chorus  echoed 
through  the  grand,  gloomy  woods  with  an  effect  not 
soon  to  be  forgotten.  Hardly  had  '*Auld  Lang 
Syne  "  died  out  when  one  of  the  Confederates  started 
the  air  of  "Old  Hundred."  The  words  were  not 
audible  to  his  enemies,  but  the  dear,  familiar  chorus 
came  back  grateful,  and  friend  and  foe  took  up  the 
air  with  feeling.     The  fires  gradually  grew  dim,  and 


AN  ADROIT  CAPTURE.  481 

with  silence  and  darkness  the  caution  of  the  videttes 
increased,  lest  the  men  with  whom  they  had  just 
joked  and  sang  should  steal  upon  them  unawares  with 
uplifted  swords.     And  this  is  war. 

Long  before  day,  without  lighting  a  fire,  Warren*s 
men  saddled,  and  ere  the  sun  rose  they  were  across 
the  Big  Black  and  ten  miles  from  the  camp  of  the 
previous  evening. 

By  noon  the  next  day  the  command  was  eighty 
miles  from  Vicksburg  by  the  road  it  had  traveled,  but 
Smith  was  not  there.  From  some  negroes  Major 
Warren  learned  that  Smith  had  started  east  that 
morning  with  about  fifty  men  and  three  pieces  of 
artillery.  Resting  for  a  short  time,  they  turned  east 
on  the  road  Smith  had  taken,  making  inquiries  along 
the  road  from  the  negroes.  Shortly  after  sundown 
they  learned  that  Smith  was  in  camp  a  mile  or  two 
beyond.  Ascertaining  definitely  the  place  and  force, 
the  negro  who  gave  the  information  was  detained  to 
act  as  a  guide.  Waiting  for  darkness,  and  to  rest  the 
men  and  horses,  they  started  for  the  plantation  where 
Smith  was  said  to  be  about  ten  o'clock.  Dismount- 
ing the  men  some  distance  from  the  plantation,  a 
sufficient  guard  was  left  with  the  horses,  and  about 
seventy  men  advanced  so  as  to  surround  the  house 
and  yard  where  Smith  and  his  men  were  in  camp. 

The  surprise  was  complete.  There  was  not  a  guard 
mounted,  and  before  the  rebels  knew  it  they  were 
powerless  to  resist,  and  prudently  surrendered.  Smith 
himself  was  in  the  house,  and  was  somewhat  aston- 
ished at  being  called  out,  and  more  at  finding  a  pistol 
to  his  head,  accompanied  with  the  demand  to  surrender. 
This  he  refused  to  do,  and,  calling  on  his  men  to 
41 


4«2  TTARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

fight,  be  rushed  toward  the  place  where  they  were  in 
camp.  It  was  the  rashness  of  a  coward,  and  he  paid 
for  it.  i^efore  he  had  gone  ten  paces  a  carbine 
flashed  before  him  and  Smith  fell,  shot  through  the 
heart. 

The  prisoners  were  carefully  guarded  till  the  early 
morning,  when  the  Yankees,  obtaining  a  couple  of 
wagons  from  the  planter  at  w^hose  place  they  were, 
they  piled  in  the  arms  and  started  north  with  the 
prisoners  and  the  three  six-pounders  for  Vicksburg. 

Warren's  hopes  were  that  he  could  get  back  to 
Vicksburg  without  encountering  the  enemy  in  any 
force,  and  report  the  success  of  his  undertaking.  His 
very  desires  increased  his  caution  and  anxiety. 

Late  in  the  afternoon,  in  company  with  Archy  and 
an  orderly,  he  rode  some  distance  ahead  of  the  line, 
with  the  intention  of  selecting  a  camping  place.  They 
passed  over  a  slight  elevation  in  the  road,  and  were 
about  to  halt  before  a  patch  of  timber  through  which 
the  road  ran,  when  suddenly  a  dozen  armed  iren 
sprang  from  the  woods,  and,  while  some  seized  the 
bridles  and  led  the  horses  in  from  the  road,  the  others, 
with  fingers  on  the  trigger,  commanded  that  the 
prisoners  utter  not  a  word.  They  were  hardly  out  of 
sight  of  the  road  when  the  tramping  of  the  Union 
cavalry  passing  was  heard,  and  the  prisoners  listened 
with  throbbing  hearts  till  the  sound  of  the  retreating 
horsemen  was  lost.  Then  the  lieutenant  in  charge  of 
the  rebels,  quite  a  body  of  whom  was  in  the  woods, 
advanced  toward  Warren,  and,  taking  Sefior's  bridle 
from  Archy,  he  turned  the  horse  over  to  one  of  his 
men. 

"Sorry  for  your  fix,  sir,"  said  the  lieutenant,  ap- 
<!roaching  Major  Warren. 


WARREN  A  PRISONER.  485 

"  Not  half  as  sorry  as  I  am,"  replied  the  major. 

*'  Of  course  you  have  greenbacks  about  you?  You 
will  have  no  need  for  them  in  the  place  you  are  going 
to.  Permit  me  to  take  charge  of  them."  The  lieu- 
tenant was  a  cool,  bland  fellow,  and  as  he  spoke  he 
twisted  his  belt  till  the  pistol-holster  protruded  in 
suggestive  proximity  to  his  right  hand.  There  was 
no  use  in  opposing  this  demand,  so  Warren  quietly 
took  out  his  pocket-book  and  handed  the  lieutenant 
four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

"I  desire  to  retain  the  pocket-book,  sir,"  said  the 
major.  "You  have  all  that  can  be  of  value  to  you. 
The  contents,  as  you  can  see,  consist  of  private 
papers  and  the  pictures  of  my  friends." 

"  No  desire,  sir,  to  interfere  with  your  private 
affairs,"  said  the  lieutenant,  as  he  fumbled  the  green- 
backs over  in  his  hands.  "  Permit  me  to  say,  sir,  this 
is  d — d  pretty  money  for  paper." 

'*  Yes  ;  I  think  it  is  artistically  good,  and  intrinsi- 
cally better  than  the  graybacks  your  people  have  to 
use  in  such  quantities  as  to  give  them  value." 

*'  You  are  mistaken,  my  friend.  Our  paper  ain't 
beautiful,  but  it's  mighty  good.  Now  there  is  a  chance 
of  your  visiting  us  for  some  time,  let  me,  as  a  man 
who  has  your  interests  at  heart,  give  a  little  advice. 
All  paper  is  valuable  in  the  South.  Of  course,  it  re- 
quires some  training  to  know  what  is  cash,  but  when- 
ever you  get  hold  of  a  document  with  the  picture  of 
a  locomotive  or  a  woman  on  it — two  of  the  fastest 
things  in  creation — hang  on  to  that  paper  for  life ; 
that's  money." 

Major  Warren  could  not  suppress  a  smile  at  this  ad- 
vice. But  his  face  lengthened  when  the  lieutenant 
asked  :  "What  is  your  name,  sir?" 


«94  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"K.-jbert  Warren,  major  of  United  States  Yolun» 
teers,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Major  Warren.  Your  name  sounds  familiar,  though 
I  canttot  recall  the  connection.  By  the  way,  major, 
you  wear  very  fine  boots.     Might  I  inquire  the  size?  ' 

The  lieutenant  looked  yeaningly  at  the  major's  long 
cavalry  boots  atd  compared  them,  judging  from  hia 
glances,  with  his  own. 

*•!  wear  sevens,  I  believe,  sir,"  replied  the  major. 

♦  •  That  is  very  curious ;  do  you  know,  major,  that  is 
just  my  size  ?  ai^d  while  I  have  no  desire  to  exchange 
positions  with  you,  my  selfish  heart  prompts  me  to 
stand  in  your  shoes.'  * 

As  the  lieutenant  concluded  a  loud  laugh  from  hia 
men,  who  were  gathered  around,  greeted  his  coarse 
wit,  and  a  score  of  voices  called  out :  *'  Come  up  out 
of  them  boots  !  Gome  up  !  I  know  yer  thar ;  see  yer 
head  a  stickin'  out,'*  and  kindred  expressions,  peculiar 
to  the  jocose  soldiers  of  both  sides. 

There  was  no  getting  out  of  it,  so  Robert  Warren 
pulled  off  his  boots,  and  the  lieutenant  did  the  same, 
and  graciously  passed  his  old  ones  to  his  prisoner  as 
he  pulled  on  the  new. 

W^hile  the  officer  was  "going  through"  Robert 
Warren,  closing  with  his  watch  and  pocket-knife,  the 
orderly  was  thoroughly  fleeced  by  the  men,  even  to 
his  blue  pants,  and  he  was  so  completely  changed  that 
Robert  scarcely  knew  him. 

By  this  time  it  had  grown  completely  dark  in  the 
woods,  and  Warren's  wondering  command  had  gone 
on  some  miles. 

The  lieutenant,  wisely  believing  a  search  would  be 
at  once  instituted  for  the  missing  officer,  started  east 


REBEL  BLUSTER.  485 

through  the  woods,  mounting  his  prisoners  and  keep- 
ing them  safely  guarded. 

It  was  12  o'clock  before  the  Confederates  halted  at 
a  plantation,  where  they  procured  provisions  for  the 
prisoners,  and  permitted  them  to  sleep  without 
blankets  near  one  of  the  fires.  Archy  took  off  his 
coat,  as  his  master  lay  on  the  ground,  and  insisted  on 
his  master's  putting  it  over  him.  The  major  kindly 
refused,  and  one  of  the  guards,  seeing  the  transaction, 
advanced  and  said  to  Archy  : 

"  See  here,  boy,  that  ar  's  a  good  coat.  You  do  n't 
seem  to  have  much  use  for  it.  Jest  fork  it  over,  will 
yer?" 

This  was  accompanied  by  a  gesture  so  imperative 
that  Archy  at  once  handed  over  the  stout,  blue  jacket. 

The  lieutenant  was  the  guest  of  the  planter,  at 
whose  house  they  stopped,  and  that  worthy  could  not 
curb  his.  curiosity.  He  came  out,  pipe  in  hand,  to 
look  at  the  prisoners,  and  to  offer  in  a  truly  Southern 
way  his  opinion  of  the  Yankees,  and  his  confidence 
in  the  success  of  the  Confederacy.  Major  "Warren 
did  not  deign  to  notice  the  son  of  chivalry,  which  fact 
incensed  his  anger  and  added  to  the  fire  of  his  pro- 
longed denunciation. 

As  Robert  lay  dozing  before  the  fire,  with  strange 
fears  and  wild  dreams  haunting  his  mind,  the  lieuten- 
ant, somewhat  the  worse  for  his  evening's  libations 
with  the  planter,  laid  his  hand  on  his  shoulder. 

"I'm  going  to  take  you  to  Brandon  to-morrow, 
major,  and  then,  I  reckon,  they  '11  send  you  on  to 
Mobile.  Mobile  is  just  the  bulliest  town,  provided, 
of  course,  that  one  is  at  liberty  to  see  the  sights." 

*'  Well,  sir,  you  are  at  liberty  to  rob  me,  insult  me, 
41* 


486  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

and  send  me  where  you  please.  Might  I  ask  what 
command  is  honored  by  the  service  of  so  gallant  a 
gentleman  ?"  As  Robert  spoke  he  half  rose  before 
the  fiend  and  looke<i  into  the  dnmken  eyes  of  the 
lieutenant. 

"  Ask  any  question  you  choose,  so  's  it  ain't  insult- 
in*,"  said  the  lieutenant,  playing  with  the  handle  of 
his  revolver.  **  I  belong  to  Scott's  Cavalry,  now  sta- 
tioned at  Brandon  ;  and  I  want  to  tell  you  I  'm  one 
of  them  chaps  that  would  rather  blow  the  head  off  a 
d d  Yankee  than  not ! " 

♦'  There  are  cowards  of  that  kiad,  who  are  always 
brave  in  the  presence  of  unarmed  men  and  old  women. 
Tliey  are  the  robbers  of  the  helpless  and  insulters  of 
the  defenseless  ! "  Robert  ros^  as  he  spoke.  "  And 
I  am  satisfied  you  are  one  of  them!"  He  looked 
into  the  unsteady  eyes  of  the  lieutenant,  and  the  rebel 
dropped  his  hands  by  his  side  and  muttered : 

"  I  do  n't  fight  with  prisoners." 

Archy  lay  on  the  ground  close  by,  his  black  eyes 
burning,  his  left  arm  drawn  under  him,  and  his  power- 
ful limbs  ready  for  a  spring. 

The  lieutenant  walked  away,  growling  as  he  did : 

• '  By  ,  you  chaps  have  got  to  walk  to-morrow, 

and  if  you  do  n't  keep  up  with  the  horses,  then  may  I 
bed d!" 

The  mon'ow  came,  cold  and  cheerless,  with  a  driz- 
zling rain  that  extinguished  the  fires  before  the  rebels 
started.  Some  of  the  soldiers  divided  their  rations 
of  corn-bread  and  bacon  with  the  prisoners,  and  then 
they  began  the  march  over  the  sandy  roads.  The 
rebels  led  three  horses  without  riders,  while  the  three 
prisoners  walked,  with  three  guards  behind  them. 


BARE-FOOTED  AND  TORTURED.  487 

Robert  was  not  accustomed  to  walking,  but  he  did  not 
complain.  The  lieuten'ant's  boots  did  not  fit  him,  and 
early  in  the  day  he  took  them  off  and  carried  them 
over  his  shoulder.  One  of  the  guards  saw  the  boots 
and  speedily  relieved  him  of  them,  while  another  guard 
took  aiivantage  of  the  circumstance  to  exchange  hats. 
The  sand  was  deep  and  soft,  and  the  socks  soon 
became  full  of  the  keen  particles,  so  that  by  noon 
every  step  taken  produced  the  most  excruciating  pain. 
The  rebels  halted  for  a  short  time  to  rest  their  horses 
and  feet ;  but  the  prisoners  were  kept  away  from  the 
water,  of  which  their  hot,  blistered  feet  were  so  much 
in  need.  Then  the  march  began,  and  the  scalding 
pain  gave  place  to  a  numb,  heavy  feeling,  and  the 
white  sand  clung  like  a  mass  of  venomous  insects  to 
the  bleeding,  blistered  feet.  Yet  on  they  walked, 
the  horses  in  front  without  riders,  the  armed  guards 
behind.  Conversation  was  prohibited,  yet  Archy 
muttered  words  of  religious  comfort  as  he  walked 
beside  his  master,  and  brave  Bob  Clark,  of  Bucyrus, 
Ohio,  laughed  as  if  the  walk  was  a  pleasure,  while 
his  pale  lips  worked  hard  with  the  effort  to  appear 
gay.  The  fever  was  still  in  Robert  Warren's  body, 
and  he  felt  the  heat  and  chill  chasing  each  other 
through  his  veins,  and,  above  all,  the  excruciating 
pain  of  his  feet  at  every  step  they  took.  His  apparent 
indifference  to  pain  w^ould  have  won  him  the  position 
of  a  Cheyenne  Indian  anxious  to  show  his  abilities 
for  the  war-path.  Yet  his  heart  fell  when  in  the 
rainy  twilight  the  rebels,  with  their  prisoners,  halted 
on  the  banks  of  Pearl  River,  in  the  very  woods  where 
a  short  time  before  Warren  and  his  scouts  captured 
Joe  Johnston's  courier. 


488  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

The  lieutenant  slept  at  the  ferry,  while  the  men 
built  fires  of  pine  boughs  and  went  into  camp  in  the 
woods.  The  ground  was  damp,  and  the  prisoners, 
without  covering  for  their  tired  bodies  or  water  to 
wash  their  blistered  feet,  lay  down,  so  exhausted  by 
the  march  of  thirty-eight  miles  that  they  slept  despite 
hunger,  cold,  and  pain. 

Morning  came  rapidly,  and  with  it  a  clear  sky  and 
a  bright  warm  sun.  A  ration  of  badly-cooked  corn- 
bread  was  served  to  the  prisoners,  and  then  they 
marched  to  the  ferry,  where  the  were  carried  across. 
They  were  stiff  and  tired,  and  the  lieutenant  seemed 
pained  because  he  had  not  the  time  to  make  his  pris- 
oners swim  instead  of  carrying  them. 

They  reached  Brandon  early  in  the  day,  and  were 
conducted  to  a  dilapidated  building  with  an  earthen 
floor,  in  which  were  crowded  a  number  of  rebel  deser- 
ters, negroes,  and  a  few  Yankee  prisoners.  The  place 
was  filthy  in  the  extreme,  and  the  inmates,  as  a  class, 
were  the  most  disreputable  representatives  of  a  large 
class  in  the  Southern  army.  Though  Robert  wore  no 
insignia  of  rank,  the  men  in  "the  guard-house" — for 
Buch  the  wretched  place  was  called — greeted  him  as 
"colonel,"  and  those  at  first  inclined  to  jeer  soon 
treated  hira  with  kindness  and  consideration.  Archy 
was  still  with  him,  and  he  surprised  Robert  that  night 
by  handing  him  a  pair  of  new  socks. 

"  Mauss  Robut,  I  reckon  I' se  washed  yer  poor  feet 
all  clean,  now  heah's  a  nice  pair  of  socks.  Miss  Mary 
guv  *em  to  me,  Susey  guv  'em  to  her  for  me,  and  I  'se 
been  a  hangin'  on  to  'em  fur  Susey." 

*'  I  will  take  them,  Archy,  for  my  feet  seem  on  fire. 
Ah,  that  water  was  so  coolmg.    I  never  knew  one's 


SHOD  AND  SHELTERED.  489 

feet  ccmld  be  so  sensitive.     The  socks  feel  nice  and  . 
soft,  Archy.     I  only  wish  I  had  a  pair  of  shoes." 

Archy  looked  down  at  his  own  large  feet  and  then 
at  the  smaller  and  finely-shaped  feet  of  his  master. 
He  evidently  made  up  his  mind  it  would  not  do  to 
suggest  wearing  his  own,  for  they  were  much  too  large. 
He  cooked  the  corn-meal  ration  that  was  served  out, 
on  a  griddle  that  seemed  to  be  used  by  the  prisoners 
in  common,  and  after  his  master  had  eaten  a  little  he 
went  to  the  o'vher  end  of  the  prison.  Kobert  watched 
him  talking  to  a  young  man  very  earnestly,  and  at 
times  stooping  down  to  feel  the  young  man's  boots, 
and  make  commentaries  evidently  unfavorable  to  the, 
articles  in  question,  for  the  young  man  would  lift  up 
his  foot,  slap  the  covering,  and  then  make  emphatic 
gestures  intended  to  imply  that  the  boots  were  of  the 
best  quality  and  that  a  great  sum  of  money  would  be 
necessary  to  replace  them — a  fact,  but  the  great  diffi- 
culty was  to  duplicate  them  at  once.  Archy  held  some- 
thing in  his  hand  that  flashed  in  the  light  that  blazed 
in  the  middle  of  the  room,  and  the  young  man's  eyes 
seemed  fascinated  by  the  yellow  sheen.  He  stooped, 
pulled  off  his  boots,  and  as  he  handed  them  to  Archy 
the  glittering  coin  passed  into  his  hand,  and  Archy's 
black  face  shone  with  delight.  Putting  the  boots 
under  his  arm  be  came  back  to  where  his  master  lay 
on  the  ground. 

"Mauss  Bob,  de  Lor'  '11  pervide  for  all  what  puts 
trus*  in  Him.     Heah  's  de  boots." 

As  Archy  spoke  he  handed  his  master  the  pair  of 
boots  he  had  purchased  from  the  Confederate. 

"  Where  did  you  get  those,  Archy,  and  what  did  you 
give  for  them?"  asked  Robert,  as  he  held  up  the  boots. 


490  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

'*  I  bought  dem  from  dat  young  white  man  what  *a 
walkhig  aroun' in  his  stoc  kin' feet.  Mighty  sorry  for 
him,  but  he  's  got  de  gold." 

•'  Why,  where  did  you  get  the  gold,  Archy?" 

"  Why,  Mauss  Robut,  do  n't  yeh  'member,  de  night 
we  left  home,  ole  mauss  gabe  me  a  whole  lot  of  money 
in  gold.  I  gabe  one-half  to  Susie,  poor  chile,  an* 
kep'  de  res',  thinkin'  yeh  might  want  it  some  day  ;  an* 
now,  tank  de  Lor',  de  day  hab  come." 

"  Why,  Archy,"  said  Robert,  laughing,  "  you  surely 
do  not  thank  the  Lord  for  this  opportunity  of  using 
your  money  ?" 

"No,  Mauss  Robut,  yeh  knows  all  'bout  dat.  I'd 
die  to  see  yeh  back  wid  de  boys  agin,  but  I'm  glad, 
as  yeh  's  pris'uer,  I'm  along  to  help  yeh." 

•'It  would  indeed  ease  the  trials  that  I  am  satisfied 
lie  before  us  if  I  felt  sure  we  could  be  together.  I 
think,  however,  that  before  twenty-four  hours  you  and 
I  will  be  parted.  I  want  to  prepare  you  for  this,  Archy. 
Heretofore  they  have  sold  or  used  for  their  own  pur- 
poses all  the  colored  servants  of  Union  officers  they 
have  captured.  We  cannot  hope  your  case  will  be  an 
exception." 

"No,  Mauss  Robut,"  interrupted  Archy,  with  a 
tremulous  voice ;  "I  do  n't  spect  to  be  a 'ception, 
but  when  yeh  gets  home  tell  Susey  whar  I  is,  an'  kar 
for  de  pickaninnies." 

Robert  laid  his  hand  kindly  on  the  faithful  fellow's 
shoulder. 

"Archy,  I  hope  we  may  get  home  together.  The 
war  will  soon  end,  and  I  will  find  you  out,  and  if  I 
cannot,  you  must  hunt  up  Gome  Union  soldier  and  get 
him  to  write  to  me  at  Brazoria.   Do  whatrever  they  may 


"DE  RES'  OF  DE  GOLD."  «> 

require  of  you,  Arcby.  It  will  only  be  for  a  short  time.'* 

"  De  good  Lor'  '11  watcb  me,  Maiiss  Robut.  But,'* 
he  added,  as  if  ashamed  of  calling  attention  to  his 
own  case,  ' '  I  does  n't  keer  fur  meself.  I  'se  thinkin* 
about  yeh,  Mauss  Robut,  an'  what  yeh  's  got  to 
suffer,  an'  I  not  near  !" 

"  Well,  Archy,  now  that  I  have  boots  I  feel  better. 
Come,  don't  get  down-hearted.  If  they  do  not  part 
us  before  to-morrow  night  I  think  we  can  give  them 
the  slip." 

The  last  was  said  in  a  whisper,  but  it  caused  a 
wonderful  change  in  Archy's  face  as  he  turned  it  full 
on  his  master,  and  said  in  a  low,  earnest  voice,  "  May 
de  good  Lor*  jes'  give  us  half  a  chance." 

Archy  then  fumbled  around  in  his  pocket,  and  at 
length  pulled  out  a  red  bandana,  which  he  slipped  un- 
noticed into  his  master's  hand. 

"  Why,  Archy,  what  is  this?" 

**Dat  ar  's  de  res'  of  de  gold." 

*'  I  know,  Archy,  but  I  cannot  take  this.  You  will 
need  it  more  than  I." 

"  No,  mauss,  I 's  got  more  'n  two  hundred  dollars 
in  greenbacks.  I  s'e  been  very  savin'.  Dey  stole 
yer  money.  Keep  dat,  please,  Mauss  Robut.  I'll 
feel  better." 

This  was  said  in  a  tone  that  Robert  could  not  refuse 
and  leave  poor  Archy  anythilig  but  miserable,  so  he 
hid  the  red  handkerchief  carefully  away — first,  how- 
ever, w^ith  Archy's  consent,  taking  out  two  pieces, 
which  he  found  an  opportunity  to  give  to  the  brave 
Ohio  orderly. 

That  was  a  miserable  night.  The  wind  blew  the 
light  sand  in  blinding  clouds  through  the  open  sides 


49D  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

and  glassless  windows  of  the  "guard-house."  The 
stock  of  fuel  was  exhausted  early  in  the  night,  and 
the  men  gathered  about  the  dying  embers,  some  nar- 
rating with  brutal  oaths  the'r  adventures  in  love  and 
war,  and  others  freely  commenting  on  the  result  of  the 
war.  The  few  Yankees  crowded  together,  and  their 
part  of  the  floor  was  respected  by  their  desperate  fel- 
low-prisoners. Through  the  night  the  sleep  of  Rob- 
ert was  often  distuibed  by  the  reliefs  and  the  shouts 
of  the  guards  as  they  announced  the  hours,  ever  clos- 
ing with  the  chilling  words,  "All 's  well." 

Morning  came,  and  with  it  a  small  ration  of  corn- 
bread  and  bacon  ;  but  the  men  were  hungry,  and  some 
ate  the  meat  without  cooking.  Archy  was  toasting 
some  before  the  fire  on  a  forked  stick,  when  an  officer 
entered  the  guard-house  and  asked  for  Major  Warren. 

*'  That  is  my  name,  sir  !  " 

"I  come  for  your  servant,  sir.     Where  is  he?" 

*' You  will  find  him  cooking  at  the  fire." 

Archy  overheard  the  conversation  and  rose  with 
the  forked  stick  in  his  hand.  He  drew  himself  up 
till  he  seemed  a  head  and  shoulder  above  every  man 
in  the  guard-house.  His  wide  nostrils  dilated,  and 
the  left  arm,  held  rigidly  by  his  side,  and  the  knotted 
muscles  and  clenched  hand  gave  him  an  air  of  fierce 
determination  that  quite  startled  the  officer. 

"  What  is  your  name,  boy  ?  "  demanded  the  officer. 

"I'm  not  a  boy,  sir.  I 'ma  man!"  As  Ai-chy 
replied  he  strode  to  his  master's  side  and  turned  his 
burning  black  eyes  on  the  rebel. 

"I  asked  you  your  name  !     No  d d  airs,  boy,  to 

me.  I  ain't  one  of  those  men  as  kin  be  sassed  by  a 
nigger!'* 


SERVANT  AND  MASTER  PARTED.  493 

**  My  servant's  name  is  Archy  Warren,"  said  Robert 
as  he  laid  his  hand  on  the  still  rigid  left  arm.  "  He 
has  his  freedom  papers,  and  I  demand  that  he  be 
treated  as  a  prisoner,  and  not  as  a  slave." 

"Stuff!  You  Yanks  confiscate  our  niggers — of 
course  we  're  agoin'  to  feed  yours  an'  dress  'em  an* 
send  'em  back  clean  an'  greasy ;  that  *s  jes'  like  us. 
Come  with  me,  boy."  As  the  rebel  spoke  he  walked 
toward  the  door  and  motioned  Archy  to  follow. 

"  Go,  Archy,  my  brave  boy.  Be  prudent.  God 
bless  you  !  A  short  time,  Archy,  and  all  will  be  well.'* 
Robert's  voice  grew  husky  as  he  clasped  the  faithful, 
ever-ready  hand. 

"God  bless  yeh,  Mauss  Bob!  May  yeh  git  back 
safe  to  de  ole  home ;  an'  if  I  neber  comes  back  kar 
fur  Susey  an'  de  piccaninnies."  Archy  raised  his  mas- 
ter's hand  to  his  lips  and  left  on  the  bronzed  fingers 
two  great  tears,  then  he  pulled  on  his  cap  and  walked 
out,  with  the  rebel  leading.  Down  to  a  little  frame 
building  near  the  dej?ot  they  walked  and  entered.  A 
number  of  clerks,  busy  at  rough,  extemporized  desks, 
and  a  number  of  officers,  smoking  and  chewing  about 
the  room,  turned  to  greet  the  officer  and  stare  with  a 
pro-slavery  admiration  on  the  powerful  negro  who 
accompanied  him. 

"By  the  great  Confederacy,  Chauncy,  that's  a 
prize.  There  's  ten  thousand  dollars  paper  currency 
in  that  fellow  if  there 's  a  cent." 

The  man  that  spoke  wore  on  his  upturned  coat 
collar  the  single  star  of  a  major,  and  on  his  puffy, 
patch-haired  face  the  evidences  of  large  quantities  o^ 
bad  whisky. 

**  He  '11  dOy  major,  though  he 's  a  sassy  cuss,  ao 
42 


494  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

will  need  takin*  dowii  afore  we  kin  git  any  good  out 
of  him.  The  cussed  Yanks  have  spoiled  him.  Why, 
what  do  you  'spose  the  black  dog  said  to  me  when  I 
called  him  a  boy  this  morning?" 

"  Why,  perhaps  he  told  you  he  was  a  girl,"  said  the 
major,  while  his  companions  joined  him  in  a  laugh  at 
what  he  deemed  a  very  good  joke. 

"  No,"  said  Lieutenant  Chauncy,  getting  red  in  the 
face,  as  if  the  very  memory  of  Archy's  insolence 
roused  his  indignation.  "  No ;  he  looked  as  savage  as 
an  alligator,  and  told  me  he  was  a  man." 

Another  burst  of  laughter  greeted  this  announce- 
ment, while  Archy,  cap  in  hand,  looked  at  the  speaker 
unmoved. 

"  About  fifty,  laid  on  good  and  strong,  would  do 
him  right  smart  good,"  added  Chauncy,  "an' he '11 
git  it  afore  we  git  through  with  him." 

"I  understand  that  fellow  Warren  is  to  be  tried. 
Hope  to  Heaven  they  '11  hang  him,"  said  the  major. 

"  Yes,  they  start  him  for  Mobite  to-night.  Scott  is 
down  there,  and  the  d — d  Yank  has  n't  much  to  hope 
from  General  Maury." 

As  the  lieutenant  closed  he  looked  at  Archy,  and 
seemed  alarmed  at  the  change  in  his  appearance. 
His  arms  hung  powerless  by  his  side.  The  defiant  air 
was  gone.  His  head  dropped  on  his  breast,  and  his 
lips  were  parted,  showing  his  white  tee^.h,  v.hich 
Beemed  to  increase  the  look  of  fear  on  his  face. 

"  What 's  wrong,  boy  ?  "  demanded  Chauncy,  shak- 
ing him. 

" Nothin',  raausser,  but  don't  hurt  Mauss  Robuc. 
He  neber  did  no  wTong  ! " 

"  The  devil  you  say  !     Now  that's  good.     So  disin- 


HANDCUFFED  AND  CHAINED.  495 

terested !  You  Ve  seen  the  last  of  him,  and  I  '11  give 
you  some  advice  boy.  If  you  wish  to  keep  the  skin 
of  your  back  sound,  just  keep  your  mouth  shut  about 
that  hound  "Warren." 

*'  I  wouldn't  let  that  fellow  go  down  to  Meridian 
without keer,  Chauncy,"  suggested  the  major;  "he's 
bin  long  enough  with  the  Yanks  to  be  devilish ;  put  on 
the  irons." 

One  of  the  clerks  heard  this,  and  volunteered  the 
information  that  there  were  handcuffs  and  a  ball  and 
chain  under  his  desk — *'  the  same,"  he  said,  "  that 
Mr.  King's  boy  Bill  had  on  when  he  was  shot." 

The  handcuffs  were  taken  out,  and  the  clerk  drew 
forth  the  chain,  with  the  ankle-ring  at  one  end  and 
the  ponderous  ball  at  the  other. 

"  Don 't  pud  dem  on  me,  mausser.  I  '11  not  run 
off.  I'll  keep  my  word  when  I  says  so."  As  Archy 
spoke  he  drew  back  with  a  shudder  from  the  hand- 
cuffs and  chain. 

"Here,  none  of  your  cussed  gab.  I'm  agoin*  to 
guard  agin  your  gittin'  off.  I  jis'  know  how  much 
confidence  to  give  to  niggers  like  you ! "  As  Chauncy 
spoke,  he  picked  up  the  handcuffs  and  drew  the  ball 
and  chain  after  him.  Approaching  Archy,  he  de- 
manded, "  Hold  out  your  hands,  boy  ! " 

With  his  head  still  bowed  on  his  breast,  Archy 
reached  out  his  stalwart  arms,  and  with  a  sudden 
click  the  handcuffs  sprung  upon  his  wrists. 

**  Thar 's  only  one  ring,  but  I  don 't  think  you  '11  un- 
dertake to  run  off  with  an  eighty-pound  ball  on  your  leg." 

As  Chauncy  spoke,  he  stooped  and  fastened  the 
ring  to  Archy' s  ankle,  and  drew  out  the  chain  witi/ 
the  ponderous  ball  to  its  full  length. 


496  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

**  The  train  starts  for  Meridian  in  about  twenty 
minutes.  Are  you  going  to  send  the  nigger  down  ?  V 
asked  the  major. 

"  Yes,  I  reckon  on  that  now.  Warren  and  the  res* 
of  'em  are  goin'  down  to-night.  Kelton's  sale  comes 
off  to-morrow.  I  think  we  kin  run  this  nigger  in 
without  any  trouble.  Good-by,  major,  we  mus'  be  off. 
Follow  me,  boy."  Chauncy  motioned  toward  the  door 
as  be  passed  out,  and  Archy  stooped  and  gathered 
up  the  chain.  To  ordinary  men  the  ball  would  have 
rendered  locomotion  impossible,  but  he  picked  it 
up  like  a  plaything,  with  his  manacled  hands, 
and  throwing  it  over  his  shoulder  he  strode  out  of  the 
room,  his  head  still  bowed  on  his  breast,  and  the  rat- 
tling of  the  great  chain  keeping  time  to  his  steps. 

There  were  horses  on  the  car  in  which  they  placed 
the  black  man,  and  every  precaution  taken  was  for 
the  safety  of  the  horses.  Archy  envied  them  their 
free  limbs  as  he  dropped  the  ball  on  the  floor,  and 
coiled  up  his  chain  and  sat  down  beside  it.  He  had 
been  a  slave  without  bonds  heretofore,  and  a  servant 
without  knowing  a  master,  for  every  act  had  been  the 
impulse  of  his  unselfish  love.  Now,  for  the  first  time 
in  his  life,  he  felt  himself  a  slave,  and  the  very 
thought  seemed  to  crush  his  free  spirit.  The  cars 
rolled  on,  and  gradually  he  forgot  himself,  forgot  his 
handcuffs  and  the  ball  and  chain,  forgot  to  surmise 
his  dreaded,  uncertain  fate,  and  his  mind  reveitted  to 
Robert. 

He  wondered  if  the  boots  would  fit  him.  Would 
they  hang  him  in  Mobile?  How  were  his  poor,  blis- 
tered, sand- rubbed  feet  ?  He  would  escape  if  he  got 
a  chance — that  was  just  like  Mauss  Robert.    Yes,  and 


ARCHY'S  MUSINGS  AND  TRIALS.  497 

it  was  like  himself,  he  would  watch  for  the  moment 
when  the  irons  were  off  hands  and  legs  to  make  an 
effort  for  freedom.  What  would  Susey  and  the  picka- 
ninnies think  if  they  knew  of  his  position?  As 
Archy  thought  of  this,  he  thanked  God  that  the 
power  to  look  beyond  our  own  surroundings,  and  to 
pierce  the  future,  was  not  given  to  man.  Poor  Susey, 
she  was  his  in  his  pure  natural  love,  but  another's  in 
everything  else.  He  hated  the  very  name  of  Town- 
send,  so  cowardly,  cruel,  and  mean. 

Thus  his  mind  wandered  as  the  cars  rolled  on  so 
slowly  over  the  broken,  uncared-for  road.  Gradually 
the  light  lessened  and  the  dark  night  came,  and  the 
cars  kept  going  till  they  reached  Meridian,  where  some 
men  came,  and  Archy  heard  the  anxious  directions 
about  the  horses,  and  the  animals  were  led  carefully 
out  with  words  of  fond  encouragement  and  endearing 
names  as  they  descended  the  sloping  gangway. 

*'Come  out  here,  nigger!"  called  a  voice,  and 
Archy  stooped  and  picked  up  the  heavy  ball,  and» 
with  the  chain  rattling  as  he  moved,  he  descended 
the  gangway  and  followed  the  long,  cadaverous  man 
who  assumed  charge  of  him.  The  unpaved  streets 
were  very  sandy  and  heavy.  The  night  was  dark,  and 
pattering  drops,  with  gloomy  palpitations  of  the  south 
wind,  threatened  a  rain.  The  long  man,  uncumbered 
by  hand-cuffs  or  chains,  strode  rapidly  along,  while 
Archy,  with  the  ring  eating  into  his  ancle  at  every 
step,  and  his  ironed  wrists  tortured  as  they  held  the 
heavy  ball  on  his  shoulder,  struggled  on  in  the  hope 
of  keeping  up.  Once  he  stumbled  and  the  ball  fell, 
and  with  a  savage  oath  the  long  man  turned  and 
struck  him  as  he  was  picking  it  up.  Archy  again  re- 
42* 


498  WAHREN  OF  TEXAS. 

suraed  his  journey,  the  sweat  standing  in  great  beads 
on  his  black  forehead,  and  the  excruciating  pain  in 
wrists  and  ancle  growing  more  intense.  He  had  never 
been  struck  before,  and  his  spirit,  so  simple  and  affec- 
tionate, rose  against  the  insult.  Had  he  been  free 
as  to  his  limbs,  it  would  have  fared  badly  with  the 
long  man  then ;  as  it  was  he  choked  down  the  fierce 
words  that  rose  to  his  lips,  and  kept  on. 

They  reached  the  pen,  a  sort  of  cattle  inclosure 
with  a  number  of  misarable  huts  about  it,  and  Archy 
was  registered  at  the  gate,  then  turned  in,  with  another 
imprecation  from  the  long  white  man,  who  cursed  him 
for  a  *'lazy  black  dog."  There  were  a  number  of 
negroes  inside,  of  every  age  and  sex,  all  booked  for 
the  morrow's  sale.  A  few  powerful-looking  fellows 
were  chained,  and  one  lay  on  the  ground  with  a  gag 
in  his  mouth  and  his  limbs  bound,  while  beside  him, 
with  her  little  ones  nestling  near  her,  his  wife  sat. 

An  old  woman,  torn  from  her  son,  swayed  herself 
back  and  forth  near  the  red  fire,  and  a  mother  in  a 
blind  stupor,  and  with  her  wailing  moans,  held  her 
hands  crossed  on  the  breast  from  which  a  child  had 
been  torn.  It  was  a  Sabbath  night,  and  in  a  thousand 
churches  the  southern  people  gathered  to  invoke 
Grod's  blessing  on  their  cause ;  and  while  the  masters 
prayed  at  the  altar  the  slaves  groaned  in  the  pen,  and 
He  who  called  his  followers  from  among  the  poor  and 
lowly  heard  the  groans. 

Archy  was  hungry,  and  a  score  of  willing  hands 
were  ready  to  divide  with  him  their  scanty  fare ;  and 
after  he  had  eaten  they  gathered  about  to  hear  of 
freedom — gi'adually  coming  nearer — and  to  draw  com- 
fort,  in  their  distress,  from  the  firm  wt)rds  of  the 


ON  THE  AUCTION- BLOCK.  499 

mancled  black  man.  Arc  fay's  ancle  and  wrists  were 
sore,  and  the  ball,  which  in  the  morning  seemed  to 
his  giant  strength  a  toy,  n  >w  hung  to  him  like  a  very 
^ncubus.  On  a  heap  of  corn  husks  in  one  of  the 
mbins  he  lay  down,  and  with  troubled  dreams  about 
his  master,  and  the  wife  and  little  ones  in  Texas,  he 
slept  till  morning.  A  coarse  ration  of  corn-bread 
was  then  served  out,  and  a  man  came  in  who  saw  that 
all  the  slaves  washed  themselves  preparatory  to  the 
sale.  The  irons  were  taken  off,  bringing  to  body  and 
spirit  a  feeling  of  such  relief  that  Archy  could  have 
kissed  the  hand  that  did  it.  The  sale  took  place  in 
the  pen,  into  which,  by  ten  o'clock,  had  gathered  old 
planters  to  purchase,  and  young  men  to  joke — old 
planters  that  the  previous  night  had  invoked  God  to 
aid  them,  and  young  men  armed  in  the  name  of  free- 
dom and  country.  Why  picture  that  scene  of  heart- 
rending, the  parting  of  mother  and  babes,  wife  and 
husband,  and  life-long  friends — poor  in  everything, 
save  that  wealth  of  affection  which  a  common  suffering 
gives  ?  Arehy's  turn  came  ;  and  as  the  Confederate 
States  Government  owned  him,  the  receiver  for  that 
district  sold  him  for  the  Government,  the  money  to  be 
appropriated  to  the  southern  cause.  The  black  man, 
barefooted,  stood  on  the  block,  with  his  head  cast 
down,  while  the  auctioneer  pointed  to  what  every 
spectator  could  see,  the  wonderful  physique  of  the  man. 
"  Make  him  take  off  his  shirt,"  said  a  man  whom 
Archy  recognized  as  the  long,  cadaverous  man  of  the 
previous  evening.  The  request  of  the  long  man  was 
the  demand  of  the  auctioneer.  Archy  fastened  his 
braces  around  his  waist  and  took  off  his  shirt ;  then  he 
folded  Ills  arms,  so  indicative  of  strength,  on  his 


600  WAEREN  OF  TEXAS. 

heavily-muscled  chest,  and  with  one  foot  advanced  ov 
the  block,  he  stood  a  slave-god  before  his  worshipers. 

"Looks  like  an  onery-dispositioned  nigger,'*  said 
one  man.  "  Strong  as  a  lion  and  hannless  as  a  lamb," 
said  the  auctioneer,  as  he  prepared  for  the  bids. 
The  competition  was  sharp,  and  at  length  the  long 
man  secured  the  purchase  for  nine  thousand  dollars, 
a  sum  at  which  Archy  was  deemed  '*  dirt  cheap," 
comparing  Confederate  money  with  gold ;  but  even 
at  that  time  the  most  sanguine  rebels  considered  the 
possibility  of  Union  success,  and  in  such  case  the 
certainty  of  freedom  to  aM  men. 

That  night  Archy  was  sent  to  a  plantation  between 
York  and  Meridian,  the  long  man  warning  him  as  they 
started  that  ' '  it  would  n't  do  nohow  to  put  on  any 
airs  with  him;  he  couldn't  stan' a  sassy  nigger;  he 
wanted  work,  and  he   (Archy)  mus'  come  right  down 

an'  do  it ;  mus'  get  rid  of  d d  Yankee  notions  an* 

behave,  an'  then  it  'd  be  well  enough." 

"  Wid  de  help  ob  de  Lor,'  maussa,  I  '11  try  to  do 
right,"  said  Archy,  as  he  passed  out,  feeling  for  the 
first  time  in  his  life  that  he  was  a  slave. 


CHAPTER  XL, 


A   MIGHTY   MAN   OF   TTAR. 

The  day  following  that  on  which  Archy  had  been 
sold  at  Meridian,  his  master  passed  through  the  same 
place  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Garrett,  en  route  to 
Mobile.  The  lieutenant  was  a  fiery,  little  fellow^  with 
a  scrubby,  red  moustache  and  hair  of  the  same  color. 
He  kept  his  belt  buckled  so  tight  about  his  waist  that 
it  seemed  to  force  all  his  digestive  organs  into  his 
protruding  breast,  and  gave  his  face  a  full,  flushed 
appearance,  as  if  he  were  determined  to  hold  his 
breath  or  burst.  His  reddish-gray,  protruding  eyes 
would  warrant  this  suspicion.  He  looked  like  a 
human  torpedo  filled  with  the  most  dangerous  ingre- 
dients, needing  but  a  spark  to  explode  him  or  wrap 
his  glowing  body  in  flames.  He  had  a  military  strut 
that  was  very  effective,  and  though  only  five  feet  two, 
and  short  in  the  legs,  he  walked  with  a  stride  that 
threatened  to  split  him  at  each  fierce  step.  He  carried 
his  left  side,  where  hung  his  huge  sword,  a  little  in 
advance  of  his  right,  like  a  sentinel  advancing  to 
challenge.  That  portion  of  his  arms  not  swallowed 
up  in  a  pair  of  cavernous,  bell-mouthed  gauntlets  was 
decorated  with  a  labyrinth  of  gold  lace,  so  intricate 
in  its  glittering  windings  that  a  ground  plan  of  the 
affair  would  far  eclipse  the  once  famed  Cretan  arrange- 
ment.  The  lieutenant  wore  a  cap  with  two  gold  braids 


602  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

about  the  circumference,  and  another  raoLze  of  lace 
about  the  little,  round  button  on  top,  like  the  dear 
castle-puzzle  of  our  childhood.  Like  the  Queen's 
Life-Guards,  and  other  nobby  soldiers,  the  cap  was  four 
sizes  too  small,  and  was  held  on  the  side  of  the  round, 
red  head  by  a  strap  so  short  as  only  to  reach  the  under 
lip,  which  the  lieutenant  kept  protruded  in  a  very 
grim  and  martial  manner  in  order  to  hold  his  cap  on. 
As  he  chewed  tobacco  and  spat  very  freely,  the  strap 
was  continually  getting  into  his  mouth  and  interfering 
with  the  proper  ejectment  of  the  amber  saliva,  so 
that  much  of  it  fell  short,  and  left  its  mark  on  the 
doubled-breasted  front  of  the  coat,  where  the  dazzling 
buttons,  marked  "C.  S.  A.,"  strained  about  the 
mighty  chest.  This  description,  though  not  applicable 
to  all,  is  accurate  as  to  a  conspicuous  class  of  Southern 
line  officers.  Garrett  had  heard  about  Warren,  and 
was  determined  that  his  prisoner  should  know  he  had 
a  determined  fellow  to  care  for  him,  so  he  paced 
the  car,  despite  the  fact  that  his  sword  got  mixed  up 
with  the  arms  of  the  seats  and  passengers,  and  each 
time  he  passed  his  prisoner  he  stared  at  him  with  a 
look  which  seemed  to  say  :  "  It  won't  pay,  sir,  to  at- 
tempt any  d — d  nonsense  with  Lieutenant  Gtirrett. 
Bot  your  life  on  that,  sir?" 

Xhe  ride  was  very  long,  the  train  very  slow,  and  the 
only  break  in  the  monotony  was  when  an  officer  with 
a  half  dozen  soldiers  at  his  heels  would  pass  through 
the  cars  to  examine  the  papers  of  the  passengers.  At 
such  times  Garrett  had  to  show  his  orders,  vrhich  he 
al\7ays  did  in  the  presence  of  his  prisoner,  with  his 
breast  stuck  out,  his  head  thrown  back,  and  one  foot 
advanced,  ULe  a  kni4^ht  errant  in  a  gas-fixture  store, 


"  A  FELLOW  FEELING,"  ETC.  603 

wlnle  his  gauntleted  left  hand  played  nervously  with 
the  brass  butt  of  his  monstrous  sword. 

Robert  Warren  at  the  first  measured  the  man  ex- 
actly, but  he  was  too  much  depressed  to  take  advan- 
tage of  his  knowledge,  which  fact  the  lieutenant  in- 
terpreted into  fear,  and  this  gave  him  a  regard  for  his 
prisoner,  for  it  flattered  his  own  vanity. 

Below  Meridian  Robert  motioned  to  the  lieutenant, 
and  that  individual  advanced  and  struck  an  attitude, 
without  noticing  the  seat  Robert  had  made  for  him. 

*♦  Lieutenant,  when  do  you  expect  to  reach  Mobile  ?'* 

'♦To-night,  sir." 

••  Is  there  a  place  in  Mobile  exclusively  for  Yankee 
prisoners  ?" 

'*  No,  sir ;  except  the  slave  pen." 

*♦  Oh,  that  will  do  very  well.  By  the  way,  lieuten- 
ant, you  must  be  hungry.  Do  we  stop  at  any  place 
where  we  can  get  something  to  eat  and  drink  before 
reaching  Mobile  ?" 

The  lieutenant  softened  a  little.  This  Yankee  was 
a  creature  something  like  himself.  He  was  subject 
to  hunger  and  thirst.  Thirst !  The  very  thought  of 
the  Yankee's  thirsting  unbent  the  fiery  lieutenant, 
and  he  gradually  edged  nearer,  and  finally  slid  into 
the  seat  with  his  sword  between  his  legs. 

«*  Yes,  sir — yes,  major.  We  stop  at  a  station,  sir, 
after  a  while.     Are  you  thirsty  ?  '* 

♦♦  Thirsty  !     Very  ;  and  more  hungry." 

*♦  We  have  something  to  eat  on  the  cars,  but  nothing 
except  water  to  drink,  sir." 

"  I  am  obliged,  lieutenant,  but  I  can  wait  till  we 
reach  the  place  you  alluded  to,  when  I  will  be  obliged, 
if  you  permit  me,  to  purchase  some  food." 


604  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

**'0<»irtainly,  sir.  But,  sir,  you  must  not  get  from 
under  my  eyes."  The  lieutenant  rose  as  he  spoke 
and  looked  do\vTi  on  his  prisoner,  though  his  promi- 
nent eyes  had  lost  much  of  their  fierceness,  and  he 
penuitted  the  strap  of  his  cap  to  slip  from  under  his 
lip  a^id  hang  under  his  pug  nose. 

It  was  after  dark  when  the  wheezy  engine  stopped, 
and  the  crowd  of  hungry  passengers  rushed  toward 
oiiQ  of  the  three  frame  houses  near  the  station,  where 
a  black  man  was  hammering  a  gong  with  terrific 
energy. 

"Stand  by  mc,  sir.  Keep  close  alongside,  sir." 
As  the  lieutenant  ejaculated  this  he  laid  his  hand  on 
Robert's  arm,  as  if  its  weight  would  deter  him  from 
attempting  to  escape,  and  they  moved  along  with  the 
crowd  toward  the  house  where  the  gong  was  sound- 
ing. The  lieutenant  walked  up  to  a  man,  whom  he 
appeared  to  know,  and  said  : 

"  Gunning,  I  have  a  prisoner "  Before  the  lieu- 
tenant could  finish  the  sentence,  Gunning  interrupted 
him  with  an  oath,  adding : 

"Bully  for  you,  lieutenant.     Let's  see  him." 

"  I  want  you  to  give  him  some  supper,"  said  the 
lieutenant,  pointing  to  the  prisoner. 

*'  Now  see  heah,  Mr.  Garrett."  Gunning  assumed 
a  dignified  attitude.  "  I  'm  willin'  to  do  all  I  can  for 
the  Confederacy  an'  the  soldiers,  but  cuss  me  if  I  'ra 
agoin'  to  let  any  Yank  eat  at  my  table." 

"  I  will  pay  you,  sir,  for  the  food,  and  as  to  eating 
at  your  table,  I  assure  you  I  do  not  desire  it.  I  want 
something  to  eat,"  said  Robert,  in  a  very  cool  tone. 

"The  fact  is,  Gunning,  how  am  I  to  eat?  I  must 
have  this  prisoner  under  my  eye  all  the  time,  you  see, 


RED-FACED  CHIYALRT.  605 

and  I  do  n't  want  to  starve  him  just  because  he 's  so 
unfortunate  as  to  be  a  Yank.'' 

"  Well,  hurry  up ;  I  '11  give  him  a  place  at  the 
carving  table,  and  watch  him  myself." 

Robert  was  hurriedly  conducted  to  the  table,  where 
a  negro  was  carving,  and  directly  back  of  him  the 
fiery  Garrett  sat  down  to  a  supper  anything  but  con- 
ducive to  digestion,  for  the  meat,  the  sweet  potatoes, 
and  corn-bread  were  all  cooked  in  that  king  of  culinary 
articles  in  a  Southern  kitchen — the  frying-pan. 

The  negro  who  stood  filling  the  plates  with  tough 
steak  at  the  carving-table  was  most  attentive  to  the 
prisoner,  and  took  occasion  to  ask,  in  a  whisper : 

' '  When  '  s  de  res'  a  corain'  ?  " 

*'Soon,"  said  Robert,  in  a  low  voice;  "but  not 
prisoners." 

"  Tank  de  Lor' !"  and  the  negro  rolled  up  his  eyes 
and  worked  more  energetically  among  the  steak  and 
sweet  potatoes. 

Oarrett  had  one  Southern  characteristic,  viz :  lib- 
erality. He  would  not  let  the  prisoner  pay  for  what 
he  had  eaten,  and  he  succeeded  in  getting  some  cigars 
and  a  bottle  of  bad  whisky,  which  he  intended  ^he 
prisoner  should  partake  of,  but  which  the  prisoner 
really  could  not  do,  though  he  often  went  through  the 
motions. 

Before  they  reached  Mobile,  early  next  morning, 
the  lieutenant  was  redder  than  ever.  His  face  fairly 
burned  under  the  influence  of  the  fiery  whisky.  He 
took  occasion  during  the  night  to  inform  his  prisoner 
that  his  was  a  constitution  of  iron,  that  he  never  felt 
fatigued ;  could  go  for  a  week  without  sleep,  and 
drink  all  the  time.  This,  he  further  informed  the 
43 


606  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

prisoner,  was  the  result  of  blood,  "  I  have  lots  of 
good  blood  in  me,  sir.  My  grandfather  you  may 
have  heard  of — Garrett ;  same  name  's  mine,  sir." 

The  prisoner  felt  certain  he  had  heard  of  the  dis- 
tinguished grandfather,  but  could  not  remember  the 
connection. 

"  He  was  sure  of  his  man,  sir,  at  forty  paces,  and 
it  broke  his  heart  when  he  got  the  palsy  at  seventy- 
five." 

*'A  very  remarkable  man,  lientenant,"  the  pris- 
oner thought  it  proper  to  say. 

"  Yes,  sir,  but  I  'm  his  equal.  I  never  went  back 
of  my  word,  sir,  in  an  affair  of  that  kind." 

In  this  strain  the  lieutenant  kept  on  the  greater 
part  of  the  night.  By  the  following  morning  they 
reached  Mobile,  the  lieutenant's  appearance  throw- 
ing very  strong  suspicions  on  his  boasted  powers  of 
endurance. 

"  I  must  take  you  at  once,  sir,  to  Major  Dennis,  the 
provost  marshal,"  said  the  lieutenant. 

*'  All  right,  lieutenant,  I  feel  safe  in  your  hands." 
Major  Dennis's  office  was  near  the  Battle  House, 
Bome  distance  from  the  depot,  and  therefore  the  little 
lieutenant  and  the  big  prisoner  went — in  a  carriage. 
The  major  was  not  in  when  they  arrived,  but  soon  put 
In  an  appearance.  The  lieutenant  in  the  yiieantime, 
feeling  that  a  great  weight  was  lifted  off  hli  shoulders, 
collapsed  like  a  little  red  balloon,  and  dropping  his 
head  on  his  sunken  bosom  he  snored  audibly. 

Major  Dennis  was  a  lawyer-like,  gentlemanly  fellow, 
about  forty  years  of  age,  with  heavy,  l>rown  whiskers, 
and  a  deliberate  way  of  speaking,  in  striking  contrast 
to  the  lieutenant,  who  woke  up  when  the  major  en 


UNPROFITABLE  COLLOQUY.  607 

tcred,  and  looked  as  wide  awake  as  his  red  eyes  and 
purple  face  would  let  him.  The  work  of  transferring 
the  prisoner  was  short,  when  Major  Dennis  sent  for  a 
guard.     Then  turning  to  the  prisoner,  he  said  : 

"  We  have  heard  much  of  you,  IMajor  Warren,  and 
I  am  heartily  glad  you  are  here." 

' '  You  are  very  kind,  sir,  but  I  deserve  no  credit 
for  the  visit." 

The  provost  marshal  formed  his  lips  as  if  about  to 
smile,  but  instead,  a  dry  expression,  that  might  pass 
for  anything,  w^as  produced. 

"We  will  send  you  on  to  Montgomery  to-morrow, 
sir,  and  forward  the  charges  with  you." 

* '  Might  I  ask  what  charges  ?  " 

"  I  have  no  objections  to  saying  you  are  accused, 
and  I  think  with  reason,  of  having  entered  the  \Jon- 
federate  lines  at  certain  times  disguised  as  a  friend, 
for  the  purpose  of  spying." 

"  Supposing  what  you  say  to  be  true,  waa  I  cSiUght 
in  your  uniform  ?  Was  I  captured  trying  tc  pKy  the 
friend?" 

"  I  believe  not." 

"  I  am  sure  I  was  not.  I  had  given  iS^^t  to  some 
of  your  people  below  Vicksburg,  and  was  returning 
with  them,  when  I  was  scooped  up  ahead  of  my  com- 
mand. However,  this  is  no  place,  nor  is  this  the  time 
to  defend  myself.  I  have  no  fears  of  a  trial,  if  it  be 
fair." 

"  Fair  it  certainly  will  be.  But,  sir,  we  have 
more  feeling  against  men  of  your  class,  bom  and 
raised  in  the  South,  as  I  learn  you  were,  than  against 
regular  Y'ankees." 

"  On  the  same  principle,  I  suppose,  you  have  more 


608  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

love  for  northern  men  fighting  on  your  side  than  you 
have  for  those  to  the  manner  bom." 

*'  We  do  not  discriminate.     Patriots  are  patriots." 

As  the  provost  marshal  closed  speaking,  a  sergeant, 
accompanied  by  three  armed  men,  entered.  The  ser- 
geant was  called  aside  for  his  instructions.  Then 
Robert  Warren  shook  hands  with  the  lieutenant, 
bowed  to  the  provost  marshal,  and  with  the  sergeant 
by  his  side,  and  the  three  armed  men  behind,  he 
walked  into  the  street,  and  followed  by  the  taunts 
and  jeers  of  the  crowd  that  gathered  to  see  him,  he 
reached  the  prison. 

It  could  not  be  worse  than  the  place  at  Brandon. 
It  was  certainly  better  than  the  close  car,  reeking  with 
the  smell  of  smoke  and  whisky,  and  dinned  by  vulgar 
jokes,  and  ribald  songs,  and  oaths  most  blasphemous. 

**  Have  you  any  valuables  about  you?"  asked  the 
turnkey,  with  a  grim  smile. 

"  Search  and  see  for  yourself,"  said  Robert,  placing 
himself  in  an  attitude  to  facilitate  the  investigation 
if  the  turnkey  desired. 

*'  You  are  too  willin'.  If  you  got  down  to  this 
jail  with  anything  but  your  good  name,  you'd  jest  be 
the  luckiest  Yank  I've  come  across  since  I  've  been 
keepin'  boardin'  house." 

The  turnkey  led  the  way  as  he  spoke,  and  entering 
a  long  corridor,  the  guards  remained  behind.  Grated 
doors,  with  the  dim  light  just  visible  inside,  were 
ranged  on  eitlier  hand,  and  the  sound  of  their  foot- 
steps echoed  cold  and  hollow.  Here  and  there  a  face 
peered  through  the  gratings. 

"  Hello,  comrade !' '  shouted  a  voice  through  one  of 
the  doors. 


WARREN  IN  A  DUNGEON.  609 

"How  is  God's  country?" 

*'xill  is  well  ia  God's  country,"  replied  Robert, 
feeling  a  thrill  of  joy  as  he  heard  what  he  felt  was  a 
comrade's  voice. 

At  the  further  end  of  the  hall,  the  turnkey  stopped, 
and  opened  a  door, 

* '  This  ain't  a  nice  place,  but  it's  all  alone.  I  'd  rather 
give  you  a  better  room,  but  the  fact  is  I  've  got  to 
obey  orders.  Major  Dennis  knows  every  corner  here, 
and  he  selected  this  for  you." 

"  Oh,  it  will  do  well  enough,  I  go  to  Montgomery 
to-morrow,  and  as  I  am  tired  the  darkness  will  be  all 
the  better  for  sleep." 

"Wall,  maybe  you  '11  go  to  Montgomery  to-morrow. 
People  may  change  their  minds.  Hold  up  awhile  an* 
I  'II  send  your  breakfast.  Them's  the  orders,  though 
it's  right  smart  after  breakfast  now." 

Robert  walked  into  the  cell,  and  the  heavy  door 
grated  behind  him,  and  closed  with  a  bang  that  echoed 
with  a  painful  effect  along  the  corridor.  An  iron 
bedstead  with  a  mattress,  a  dirty  pillow  and  a  grey 
blanket  on  it,  a  tin  wash-basin  and  a  coarse  horn  comb 
chained  like  prisoners  to  staples  in  the  wall,  an 
earthen  pitcher  and  a  tin  cup  constituted  the  furniture 
of  the  cell.  The  small  aperture  through  which  the 
light  came  was  heavily  barred,  though  too  small  of 
itself  to  permit  the  exit  of  a  man's  body.  The  walls 
were  very  damp  and  dark,  the  floor  was  of  sheet  iron, 
and  the  ceiling  out  of  reach  even  when  standing  mi 
the  bed. 

"Not  an  inviting  place,  to  be  sure.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  get  out  of  here,  that's  true  ;  but  there  is 
no  use  in  thinking  of  escape  now.  To-morrow  I  start 
43* 


610  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

for  Montgomery  ;  then  will  come  my  time.*'  As  Robert 
thought  this  over  he  threw  himself  on  the  hard  mat- 
tress with  a  sigh  of  relief.  He  hatl  scarcely  done  so 
when  he  heard  a  knock  at  his  door,  and  said  ' '  Come 
iu !" 

"Not  much  ;  heah,  Yank,  come  to  the  door!** 

Robert  obeyed  the  voice.  The  grating  opened  on 
a  hinge,  and  through  the  aperture  a  hand  was  thrust 
with  a  tin  plate  filled  with  steaming  beans.  Robert 
seized  it,  and  the  hand  came  back  with  a  piece  of  corn- 
bread.     "Hand  out  that  ar  pitcher  for  water." 

Robert  passed  out  the  pitcher  and  it  was  handed 
back  filled  with  water. 

"  Thar,  Yank,  'conomize  on  that  till  to-morrow  morn- 
ing." 

The  grating  swung  to  with  a  metallic  thug,  and  the 
steps  of  the  man  went  ringing  down  the  coiTidor. 

"  That's  not  the  turnkey  that  brought  me  here," 
said  Robert  to  himself  as  he  sat  on  the  bed,  and  with 
the  iron  spoon  tried  to  eat  the  insipid  beans.  He 
gave  the  task  up  as  hopeless.  He  did  not  feel  himgry. 
So  he  pulled  off  his  boots  and  coat,  loosened  his 
clothing,  and  stretched  himself  on  the  iron  bedstead, 
which  he  found  about  six  inches  too  short,  but  he 
slept. 

When  he  awoke  the  glimpse  of  far-ofif  blue  sky 
seemed  to  have  faded  into  a  leaden  grey.  The  cell  was 
much  darker,  and  he  felt  a  chilly  feeling  creeping  over 
him  like  a  return  of  the  fever  from  which  he  had  just 
recovered. 

He  managed  to  eat  some  of  the  com -bread  and 
beans,  then  he  stood  up  near  the  window  and  wiir'ihed 
the  grey  dying  out,  and  darkness  com^P^  on.     The 


MIDNIGHT  MUSINGS.  611 

cell  was  very  black,  and  the  utter  stillness  very-  op- 
pressive. "I  certainly  could  not  stand  this  long.  I 
wish  it  were  morning.' '  Robert  spoke  aloud — the  very 
found  was  a  comfort — and  walked  back  to  the  bed. 
He  lay  down,  and  for  hours  memory  was  busy  w^th  the 
past.  He  began  with  memory  and  childhood  ;  youth 
and  manhood  marched  past  in  review ;  familiar  faces 
and  places  lit  up  the  panorama  at  times,  while  scenes 
of  sorrow  and  days  of  suffering  added  to  the  gloomy 
setting  of  the  picture. 

**  What  a  blessing  a  watch  and  candle  would  be.  I 
wonder  what  time  it  is."  He  rose  and  peeped  out 
through  the  grated  door  into  the  black  corridor ;  he 
heard  a  low,  hollow  cough  away  down  on  the  opposite 
side.  "  That  chap  ought  to  be  in  the  hospital.  Con- 
sumption is  a  fearful  thing,  and  in  such  a  place.'* 
He  stood  and  heard  the  cough  again  and  again,  and 
sad  as  was  the  sound  it  brought  him  comfort  and  com- 
pany. It  told  him  there  was  a  fellow  creature  near 
him  suffering  more  than  he  was,  and  though  the  most 
unselfish  of  men,  the  very  thought  was  a  comparative 
pleasure. 

"Who  can  the  poor  felloWbeP  thought  Robert. 
**  A  criminal,  no  doubt,  who  has  been  in  here  a  long 
time.  Some  wretch  who,  under  circiunstances  of  life 
and  education  that  would  have  hung  the  judge  who 
sentenced  him,  had  he  been  subjected  to  them,  has 
been  sent  here  for  the  good  of  society.  He  is  friend- 
less and  poor,  I  am  certain ;  had  he  wealth  he  would 
never  have  reached  here ;  had  he  friends  he  would 
not  remain  here.  I  wish  I  could  aid  him.  Justice  is 
as  blind  as  Love,  and  about  as  reasonable.  Ah,  me  !'* 
Again   the  painful  cough  was   beard    there  was 


612  WARREN  OF  TEX\5. 

something  in  the  sound  that  told  Robert  it  was  that  of 
a  young  man.  •'  I  wonder  if  he  is  black  or  white  ? 
But  no  matter,  I  wish  I  could  aid  him,"  Robert  felt 
the  belt  next  to  his  body,  where  was  secreted  the  gold 
Archy  had  given  him.  "A  barrier  separates  us,  and 
the  suffering  man  will  die,  unknowing  the  vicinity  of 
a  friend.  He  coughs  with  great  pain.  What  if  be 
were  a  Yankee — a  comrade  kept  here  by  the  whim  of 
his  jailors."  The  very  thought  increased  Robert's 
chill,  and  he  walked  back  to  the  bed  and  tried  to  shut 
out  the  sound — it  was  too  horribly  suggestive. 

At  times  during  the  long  night  Robert  slept,  but 
his  sleep  was  broken  and  disturbed  by  wild  dreams 
and  gloomy  surroundings. 

It  was  a  relief  when  morning  came,  and  with  the 
light  the  heavy,  echoing  tread  of  the  turnkey.  As  he 
approached,  Robert  whispered  to  himself:  "Thank 
God,  this  is  the  last  night  here." 

Again  there  was  the  sound  of  unfastening  the  grate, 
and  the  gray  arm  was  inserted  through  the  opening. 

**Hand  out  them  things!" 

"What  things?" 

♦♦Confound  you,  them  tin  things." 

"All  right ;  do  n*t  get  mad." 

The  "tin  things"  with  the  cold  beans  and  hard 
corn-bread  were  paF^c-d  out.     • 

'*  Oh,  dainty,  are  you?' said  the  voice  outside ;  "all 
right,  you'll  be  glad  to  eat  thii,  bimeby."  There  was 
a  sound  outside  of  stirring  in  a  tin  bucket ;  then  the 
hand  was  passed  ia  with  the  plate  and  some  hot  beans, 
and  then  came  the  corn-bread  and  the  demand  for  the 
pitcher  and  slop-pail.  They  were  passed  out,  and  the 
pitcher  handed  back  again  filled  with  water.   There  was 


THE  TURNKEY'S  MOCKERY.  513 

some  person  with  the  turnkey — "  a  servant,  no  doubt,  to 
help  him  carry  the  articles  around,"  thought  Robert. 
The  grating  closed,  and  the  turnkey  came  back,  after 
having  walked  oiF  some  distance,  and  said  through  the 
door,  "I  '11  be  back  before  night." 

* '  When  do  you  start  me  for  Montgomery  ? ' ' 

*  *  For  Montgomery  ? '  * 

**yes." 

The  turnkey  walked  away,  and  his  low  "  Ha,  ha. 
ha !  '*  struck  on  Robert's  ears  as  no  sound  ever  had 
before.  He  was  hungry,  and  he  sat  down  and  ate  the 
beans,  so  hard  and  insipid,  and  tried  to  gnaw  the 
softer  part  of  the  heavy  corn-bread. 

The  turnkey  walked  back  again,  uttering  a  laugh, 
the  mockery  and  hollowness  of  which  was  increased 
by  the  stillness  which  it  broke  and  the  echoes  which 
it  started. 

*♦  We  '11  tell  ye  in  plenty  time  ter  pack  yer  trunk." 

The  stillness  of  night  is  always  bearable  because 
expected  ;  the  same  stillness  to  an  active  nature  in  the 
day  is  ever  oppressive.  Robert  walked  back  to  the 
bed  and  sat  down,  with  his  face  between  his  hands. 

**It  would  be  horrible,"  bethought,  "  to  remain 
here  long.  I  wonder  if  that  fellow  Dennis  lied.  It 
would  be  just  lil^e  the  cold-blooded  wretch!"  He 
chased  the  suspicion  from  his  mind,  and  walked  back 
and  forth  in  his  cramped  cell,  blaming  himself  for 
not  having  gotten  off  or  attempted  it  when  on  his 
way  to  Mobile.  The  hours  slipped  past  like  a  monot- 
onous age,  and  the  red  clouds,  visible  through  the 
little  barred  aperture  in  his  cell,  told  him  the  sun  was 
setting  in  the  outer  world.  He  wanted  to  see  the 
sun,  and  drawing  the  iron  bedstead  near  the  window. 


614  TV^ARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

he  stood  upon  it  and  looked  out.  A  blank,  cold  wall, 
without  windows  or  doors,  like  a  face  without  eyes, 
stopped  his  vision  a  few  yards  distant.  So  he  turned 
his  eyes  up,  resting  his  arm  on  the  tunnel-like  ap- 
proach to  the  window,  and  watched  the  changes  in 
sky  and  clouds  till  the  cold  gray  was  lost  in  the  dark- 
ness ;  and,  though  the  world  around  him  was  hidden 
by  the  walls  and  the  night,  the  very  darkness  con« 
cealed  far  off  the  glory  of  distant  worlds,  and  the 
star-light  softened  the  shadows  of  the  cell. 

"  Come  down  from  thar,  I  say  !  Thar 's  no  use  in 
them  kinder  tricks  ! " 

Ftobert  got  down,  pushed  back  the  bed,  and,  grop- 
ing toward  the  door,  he  felt  the  arm  protruding 
through  the  grating,  and  the  voice  outside  asking  for 
•*them  tins." 

*'  Why  did  they  not  send  me  to  Montgomery  to- 
day, as  the  provost  marshal  promised  ?  "  asked  Robert. 
"It  ain't  for  me  ter  say  why.  I  gits  orders  an'  I 
obeys  'em.  My  'pinion  is  you  '11  breathe  more  Mobile 
than  Montgomery  air  in  the  next  year,  if  yeh  kin  hold 
out." 

"  What  makes  you  think  so?" 
"  Wall,  we  've  got  another  chap  over  here  Yeh. 
may  hear  him  a-hacking  at  night.  He  ain't  a  man 
yet,  but  he  's  chuck  full  of  devil.  He  was  sent  down 
here  from  Tennessee  or  Georgia,  whar  he  wuz  cap- 
tured, a  kind  o'  spyin'.  They  wuz  agoin'  ter  hang 
him,  but  they  reckoned  it  'ed  be  more  Christian  ter 
keep  him  here." 

"  That  was  very  kind.   What  might  the  young  man's 
name  be?'* 

"He's   registered  as  Edward  Dawn;    a    yaller- 


A  PARLEY.  615 

headed  whelp  as  ever  lived,  an'  as  proud  an*  sassy  as 
if  be  was  agwine  ter  live  a  thousand  years." 

The  turnkey,  thanks  to  the  darkness,  could  not  see 
the  expression  on  Robert's  face. 

"  It  is  a  bad  thing  to  be  in  jail :  but  I  am  thankful 
that  I  have  a  man  as  kind  as  you  to  be  my  keeper.'  t 

"  Wall,  I  do  my  duty,  I  reckon,"  said  the  turnkey, 
in  a  softer  tone,  "  an'  it  ain't  my  duty  to  talk  to 
you." 

He  was  about  to  walk  away,  having  passed  in  the 
corn-bread  and  beans,  but  Robert  called  to  him ;  it 
was  such  a  joy  to  have  some  one  to  talk  to. 

**  I  appreciate  your  position,  my  dear  fellow.  I  am 
sorry  we  are  enemies.  You  know  how  horrible  it  is 
to  be  alone.  Trust  me  in  one  thing,  and  if  I  live  to 
leave  this  cell,  or  even  before,  my  word  for  it  you 
will  not  regret  it." 

*'  Wall,  what  do  you  want,  a  candle?" 

"  God  knows  a  candle  would  be  a  great  blessing, 
but  it  is  not  that.     Have  you  a  brother?  " 

"  Yes,  two  of  'em,  an'  bully  boys  they  is ! " 

*'  Imagine  one  of  your  brothers  a  prisoner  in  the 
hands  of  the  Yankees,  in  a  black  cell,  with  his  fate 
uncertain,  and  his  heart  yearning  for  the  voice  of  a 
friend." 

"Wall,  what  of  it?" 

"  If  I  were  the  turnkey,  and  a  southern  man  were 
in  a  cell  near  your  brother's,  would  you  not  want  me 
to  let  men  who  fought  in  the  same  cause  meet,  and 
comfort  each  other,  at  least  by  their  words  ?" 

"  Wall,  I  might  want  you  to  do  a  great  many  things 
that  wan't  jes'  squar." 

The  turnkey  walked  off,  and  the  soft  footsteps  of 


616  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

the  person  carrying  the  food  followed  after  him.  Tlie 
door  opened  at  the  farther  end  of  the  corridor,  then 
closed  with  a  startling  bang.  The  key  grated  in  the 
lock,  the  echoes  died  out,  and  all  was  still  in  the  living 
grave. 

Robert  could  not  eat,  and  as  he  sat  on  his  bed  think- 
ing about  the  brave  "Little  Ned,"  the  old  man's  pet — 
Tennessee's  boy-brother — he  heard  the  painful  hack- 
ing cough  again,  and  he  recognized  something 
familiar  in  the  sound.  He  stood  near  the  grating, 
not  daring  to  carry  out  the  promptings  of  his  heart 
by  calling  Ned  and  announcing  his  owti  presence. 
He  remained  near  the  door  he  knew  not  how  long, 
it  might  have  been  hours.  He  felt  himself  dozing 
and  only  his  hold  of  the  bars  kept  him  from  falling 
to  the  ground. 

He  was  about  to  let  go  his  hold  and  feel  bis  way  to 
the  bed,  when  his  hand  was  seized  on  the  bar,  and  he 
heard  a  low  '  *  Hush ! "  His  first  impulse  was  to  spring 
back. 

"  Who  is  there? "  he  asked  in  a  whisper. 

**  Me,  mauss — Yalla  Jack.     I 's  a  frien'." 

"  How  did  you  get  in  here? " 

"  I  totes  de  beans  fur  Mr.  Philips,  de  turnkey.  I 
heerd  yeh  to-day.  I 's  been  a  comin'  in  ebry  night,  a 
fotchin'  tings  to  dat  ar'  poor  chile." 

"  Is  it  Ned  Dawn  ?  " 

"Yes,  mauss.  I  crawls  down  de  flume.  I*s 
smaller  dan  yeh  tinks  from  my  talk." 

"  A  very  diminutive  mortal  this  must  be,"  thought 
Kobert,  as  the  low,  soft  voice  ceased. 

"  Yellow  Jack,  is  it  possible  for  me  to  get  out  of 
here,  with  your  help? " 


YELLOW  JACK.  617 

"  'Fraid  not,  mauss.  Yer  too  big,  but  anything  1 
kin  do,  led  me  know." 

"  Very  well,  go  at  once  to  Ned  Dawn's  cell  and  tell 
him  I  am  here — his  old  captain,  Warren.  He  must 
make  no  noise." 

"  All  right,  mauss." 

Robert  listened  and  in  a  few  seconds  there  was  a 
sound  like  a  pin-scratch  in  the  direction  from  which 
had  come  the  coughing. 

A  low  buz,  a  suppressed  cough,  and  in  a  few  min- 
utes, under  his  own  cell  door,  came  the  scratch  and 
the  "  hush,"  as  before. 

"  Gosh,  mauss,  dat  boy's  right  smart  sorry  ye 's 
heah,  but  it  '11  do  'im  right  smart  good  ter  know  it. 
He  loves  ye  a  pile,  I  tell  yeh." 

"Yellow  Jack?" 

**  Yes,  mauss." 

"  If  I  give  you  a  piece  of  gold,  ten  dollars,  could  you 
get  me  a  Bible  and  some  candles,  and  a  pen  and  paper  ?" 

"  I  reckon  so,  mauss.  But  I  kin  get  'em  widout 
de  money." 

' '  Have  you  money  of  your  own  ?  " 

**  No  mauss,  but  Pete,  de  Dutchman,  gibs  me  all  I 
want  fur  de  Yankees." 

"  Could  you  get  him  to  give  you  some  meat  and  a 
bottle  of  wine  for  that  poor  boy  ?  " 

"  Yes,  mauss,  I  brings  him  meat  ebery  night.  Don't 
know  as  hov/  I  could  get  a  bottle  trough  de  flume." 

"  Surely  you  are  larger  than  a  bottle  ?  " 

The  shadow  of  a  laugh  came  from  below  the  door. 

"  I  '11  try  to  git  him  de  wine." 

*'  Here,  give  this  money  to  the  Dutchman  ;  tell  him 
what  I  want." 

U 


618  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Robert  dropped  the  coin  into  the  hat  that  was 
held  up  for  it  outside.  "  Give  my  love  to  little  Ned, 
and  come  every  night." 

"I'll  try  mighty  hard,  mauss.  To-morrow  night 
I'll  be  along,  an'  den  I '^11  tell  yeh  what dey  says 'bout 
a  hangin'  ob  yeh." 

Robert  could  not  hear  the  retreat,  though  he  felt 
that  "Yellow  Jack,"  the  mysterious,  had  slipped 
away.  He  stretched  himself  on  the  bed,  happier  for 
the  kind  words  of  the  negro,  and  building  castles  and 
forming  plans  from  the  slight  material  furnished  by 
the  slave. 


CHAPTEE  XLI. 


UrTLE   NED. 

The  next  night  "  Yellow  Jack  "  was  again  on  hand. 
He  brought  two  small  candles  and  a  book,  but  as  he 
brought  no  matches  the  candles  w^ere  practically  use- 
less. He  had  a  small  phial  filled  with  brandy  for 
Ned,  and  a  little  parcel,  which  he  informed  Eobert 
contained  a  pencil  and  some  paper. 

"Take  the  brandy  over  to  Ned  at  once,  with  my 
love.  He  must  have  some  every  day.  Tell  him  to 
take  about  a  spoonful  every  three  hom's  when  awake." 

'*  Yellow  Jack  "  was  gone  for  a  few  minutes,  and  re- 
turned to  say,  "  Ned  wanted  the  captain  to  drink  the 
brandy." 

'  *  Tell  that  boy  that  I  have  given  my  orders  about 
the  brandy,  and  they  must  be  carried  out.^' 

In  a  short  time  the  black  boy  came  back,  saying, 
in  his  soft  whisper  : 

"  He  says,  mauss,  he  '11  'bey  yer  orders  all  de  time, 
an'  dat  he  feels  much  better." 

Promising  to  return  on  the  following  night,  the 
noiseless  body  moved  away,  and  Robert  stood  listening 
for  the  cough.  Once  he  heard  a  heavy  sigh,  as  if 
from  one  in  a  troubled  sleep.  It  came  from  the  di- 
rection of  Little  Ned,  and  Robert  felt  thankful  that 
he  heard  not  the  cough  again. 


620  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

The  candles,  book,  and  paper  were  secreted  early  in 
the  morning  in  the  mattress.     When  the  turnkey  de- 
parted, after  having  served  the  corn-bread  and  beans, 
Robert  looked  out  and  saw  a  little  gray-headed  yel- 
low man  waddling  noiselessly  along,  a  large  pail  in 
one   hand   and  a  basket  in  the  other.     He  was  not 
over  four  feet  high,  and  his  long  body  seemed  to  be 
out   of  all   proportion  to   his  short,  muscular  limbs. 
His   head   seemed,    with   its  gi'ay,  bushy  hair,  to  bo 
broader  and  deeper  than  his  shoulders  and  breast, 
and  would  have  been  sufficiently  large  for  a  man  six 
feet  high.     His  arms  were  very  long,  so  much  so  that 
to   keep   the   articles   carried   from  dragging  on  the 
ground,  he  had  to  keep  his  elbows  bent  and  carry  his 
burden  in  advance.     Kobert  tried  to  catch  a  glimpse 
of  his  face,  but  he   passed  through  the  door  at  the 
end  of  the  long  passage  in  advance  of  the  turnkey, 
and   Robert   heard  the  bolts  snap  and  rattle  behind 
the   being   in  whom  he  was  more  immediately  inter- 
ested than  any  person  in  the  w^orld. 

It  was  a  great  pleasure,  after  fastening  his  hat  over 
the  grating  in  the  door,  to  lie  down,  with  his  back  to 
the  light,  and  read  the  words  of  comfort  with  a  feel- 
ing of  delight  and  satisfaction  never  before  ex- 
perienced. He  forgot  the  prison  and  the  war  in  the 
record  of  the  chosen  people,  who,  through  great 
tribulation,  came  up  from  bondage,  and,  after  much 
trial,  reached  the  Promised  Land.  He  tried  to  draw 
a  comparison  between  the  Hebrew  leaders  and  soldiers 
and  those  of  his  own  land,  and  at  times  he  caught  hira- 
Belf  criticising  the  disposition  Joshua  made  of  his  men. 
But  Joshua  was  successful,  and  Robert  felt  the  result 
was  the  only  basis  on  which  to  found  a  judgment.^ 


YELLOW  JACK  DISAPPEARS.  621 

The  day  passed  quickly,  and  Robert  lookea  out  for 
the  colored  clouds  that  told  him  of  evening,  but  the 
sky  was  overcast,  and  a  low,  moaning  sound  came 
through  the  grated  aperture  that  admitted  the  light. 

Another  ration  of  bread  and  beans,  and  the  turn- 
key left.  Robert  tried  to  draw  him  into  conversation, 
but  without  success.  He  ate,  but  the  food,  as  before, 
was  insipid,  and  the  want  of  exercise  and  fresh  air 
destroyed-  his  appetite.  He  lay  awake  listening  to 
the  wailing  wind  outside  and  watching  the  lurid  flashes 
of  lightning  that  lit  up  the  black  sky.  It  was  about 
time  for  ♦«  Yellow  Jack"  to  come.  Robert  stood  by 
the  door,  his  hand  on  the  bars,  expecting  the  touch, 
and  listening  for  the  low  whisper  that  would  tell  him 
his  friend  had  come.  Now  and  then  a  cough  from 
Ned's  cell  was  heard,  which  he  would  answer  by 
coughing  himself;  but  the  negro  did  not  come.  Dur- 
ing the  long  hours  Robert  groped  about  his  ceU,  re- 
turning every  few  minutes  to  the  door,  but  there  was 
no  touch  of  the  hand,  no  longed-for  whisper. 

**It  is  raining  hard  outside  ;  no  doubt  Yellow  Jack 
finds  it  impossible  to  get  down  through  the 'flume,' 
as  he  calls  it,  or  get  up,  for  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know 
how  he  comes  in  here.  The  next  time  I  see  him  he 
must  bring  me  a  file  or  a  small  saw  ;  I  can  get  into  the 
hall  then,  and  will  try  the  dimensions  of  this  '  flume.* 
K  they  keep  me  here  much  longer  I  think  the  'flume' 
will  be  plenty  large." 

Thus  soiiloquizingr  standing  near  the  door,  and 
moving  about  the  cell,  Robert  watched  till  the  cold, 
leaden  day  came,  with  the  wind  still  howling  and  the 
rain  beating  on  the  bars,  and  entering  the  room  in  a 
fine  spray.  The  book  was  again  a  pleasure,  and  as  on 
44* 


622  Wi-ilRr-N  OF  TEXAS. 

the  island  in  .he  Caddo  Lake,  he  A^Tote  a  letter  to  a 
loved  one,  which  he  felt  at  the  time  she  would  never 
see.  The  turnkey  was  less  communicative  than  before, 
and  when  night  came  Ptobert's  hungry  ears  were  wait- 
ing for  the  low  "  hush  "  and  "  Yellow  Jack's"  whisper, 
but  they  came  not ;  and  as  on  the  previous  night  he 
coughed  in  reply  to  the  painful  sounds  from  Little 
Ned's  cell. 

The  next  morning  Robert  watched  the  turnkey 
walking  away,  and  his  heart  sank  as  he  saw,  instead 
of  "Yellow  Jack,"  a  gaunt,  lantern-jawed  white  man 
carrying  the  bucket  and  basket.  As  the  door  was 
about  to  close  Little  Ned  called  out : 

"I  want  to  see  you,  sir." 

The  turnkey  went  back,  saying  as  he  did  : 

"Damn  you,  don't  yell  as  if  I  wuz  deaf;  havn't  I 
told  you  about  not  hollerin'  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir." 

*'  "Wall,  do  n't  do  it  no  more,  if  yeh  want  ter  keep 
out  uv  the  black  cell." 

Robert  placed  his  ears  to  the  bars,  and  he  heard 
Little  Ned  in  a  lower  voice : 

"I  can't  stand  this,  sir  ;  my  breast  is  very  sore,  and 
my  cough  is  worse  ;  could  n't  yeh  let  a  doctor  come  to 
see  me  ?" 

"  I  reckon  so,  but  I  ain't  got  nothin'  ter  do  with  it. 
Yeh  wuz  sent  heah  ter  die,  I  reckon.  Do  n't  know 
why  in  h — 1  else  they  gives  such  orders  'bout  you  an* 
that  Warren.    I  carries  out  the  orders." 

"  Very  well,  sir ;  I  '11  try  to  stand  it.  I  do  n't  blame 
yeh  ;  I  won't  complain." 

Little  Ned  coughed  again,  and  the  turnkey  walked 
out  muttering  something  to  himself,  which  Robert 
could  not  hear. 


NED  AND  WARREN  PART.  623 

The  desire  to  speak  to  Little  Ned  was  stronger  than 
Robert's  prudence.  About  the  middle  of  the  day, 
hearing  Ned  cough  again,  he  called  out : 

**Ned!  Ned!  my  boy!" 

*'I  hear  yeh,  captain ;  how  are  yeh?" 

"I  would  be  happier,  Ned,  if  you  had  no  cough." 

"I  '11  be  well  soon,  cap.  I  got  a  bad  cold  a-comin* 
here,  an'  this  place  has  been  a-killin'  me." 

"Where  were  you  captured?" 

"  On  a  scout  near  Kome.  I  got  separated  from 
grandad  an'  Uncle  Jim." 

"  Why  did  they  bring  you  here  ?" 

"  Can't  say,  cap.  ;  they  talked  about  hangin*  of  me." 

The  door  at  the  end  of  the  corridor  suddenly  opened, 
and  the  turnkey  with  a  nimiber  of  men  entered  hur- 
riedly. 

"What  in  h — 1  is  all  this  noise  for?  I've  tried  to 
treat  you  infernal  Yanks  well,  an'  heah  fust  chance 
yer  a  breakin'  the  rules." 

The  turnkey  stopped  before  Little  Ned's  cell,  and 
Robert  saw  the  poor  boy,  so  pale  and  emaciated,  walked 
into  the  middle  of  the  hall.  He  turned,  and  a  smile 
lit  up  his  thin  face  as  he  saw  the  *  captain'  peering 
through  the  bars. 

"ComCy  I  '11  put  you  soraewares  else,"  said  the 
turnkey  as  he  pushed  Little  Ned  toward  the  door. 
Poor  Ned  turned  his  face  and  called  out,  "  God  bless 
you,  cap,"  as  the  heavy  door  swung  behind  him,  and 
the  turnkey  and  his  posse  marched  off  as  if  they 
were  guarding  a  dangerous  giant. 

Robert  tried  to  read,  but  before  him  on  the  pages 
the  thin  face  of  brave  Little  Ned  was  ever  coming  up, 
and  above  the  storm  without  and  wailing  winds  ho 


624  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

heard  the  words.  "This  place  has  been  a  HUin'  me." 
The  days  went  past  so  like  each  other  that  if  it 
were  not  for  the  pencil  marks  on  the  book  diat  stood 
for  days  Robert  would  have  lost  all  judgm',ii-.t  of  time. 
The  days  became  weeks  and  the  weeks  months,  and 
he  still  remained  in  the  narrow  compaiis  of  his  cell. 
Now  and  then  the  door  opened  uud  under  the  eyes  of 
the  turnkey  a  black  man  wont  through  the  form 
of  cleaning  out  the  damp  cell.  But  the  turnkey  him- 
self grew  more  grim,  taciturn,  and  monosyllabic. 
Robert  felt  his  arms,  so  thin  that  the  elbow  joints 
seemed  like  knotty  excrescences,  and  the  skin  tighten 
over  his  long,  thin  fingers  like  a  yellow  parchment. 
His  limbs  seemed  withering  away,  and  his  ragged, 
dirty  clothing  felt  baggy  and  uncomfortable.  He 
tried  hard  to  keep  clean,  but  his  hair  grew  long  and 
matted,  and  his  finger-nails  looked  hideous  in  their 
talon-like  shape.  His  reason  seemed  to  be  going, 
and  he  would  sit  for  hours  counting  the  threads  across 
the  worn  knees  of  his  blue  pants,  and  coughing  a 
quick,  hacking  cough,  that  seemed  to  come  with  pain 
from  his  breast.  His  book,  pencil,  and  paper  were 
discovered  and  taken  away.  Day  and  night  seemed 
alike  to  him.  Life  and  death  were  equally  indifferent. 
He  grew  childish  about  his  food,  and  obeyed  the 
turnkey's  every  command  with  a  child-like  dread  and 
willingness  to  please.  Djing  before  his  captors 
not  as  a  soldier  would  ask  to  die,  bleeding  on  the 
battle-field,  with  his  last  glauce  resting  on  the  flag 
floating  above  the  cannon's  smoke,  but  with  strength 
and  reason  going,  a  crazed  skeleton. 

O,  Thou  God  of  mercy  and  justice,  who  saw  fit  for 
Freedom's  sake,  that  we  might  better  appreciate  its 


A  BRAVE  MAN'S  PROTEST.  525 

worth,  to  let  tens  of  thousands  of  fathers  and  brothers 
and  sons  die  in  the  cells  and  prison-pens  of  the 
South — poor  starved  skeletons — keep  down  all  feelings 
of  anger  and  revenge  that  rise  burning  in  our  hearts 
as  our  tongues  recite  and  our  pens  indite  this  cursed 
record  of  a  people  fighting  in  Thy  name  and  asking 
for  Thy  aid !  But  0,  keep  fresh  the  memory  of  the 
dead  !  Remind  us  when  in  the  world's  business  we 
forget  the  twin  sister  of  Religion,  Liberty,  of  the  ter- 
rible sacrifice  and  suffering  by  which  it  was  gained. 

Sixty-four  came,  and  Robert  Warren,  once  a  giant 
in  strength  and  a  lion  in  courage,  and  a  full  man  in 
his  warm  heart  and  good  common  sense,  lay  in  the 
cell,  his  hollow  cheeks  flushed  and  his  great  bony 
chest  heaving  with  his  short,  quick  breathings.  Be- 
side him  a  tall,  red-headed  man,  in  the  uniform  of  a 
major-general  in  the  Confederate  army,  stood.  His 
voice  trembled,  and  the  moisture  came  to  his  grey 
eyes  as  he  looked  on  the  skeleton  prisoner. 

"Major  Dennis,  this  is  the  work  of  a  low,  cruel 
coward,"  said  General  Wharcon,  as  he  turned  with  a 
look  of  indignation  on  his  bronzed  face  to  the  provost 
marshal. 

"  Excuse  me,  sir.  I  am  not  accustomed  to  being 
talked  to  in  that  way." 

"You  are  not?  God  curse  you  for  a  cold-blooded 
villain." 

Major  Dennis  cowered  before  the  general's  burning 
gaze, 

*'  Why  did  you  not  shoot  or  hang  this  man,  Warren, 
at  once.  He  was  in  our  way,  but  he  deserved  a  brave 
man's  treatment." 

"  We  could  not  sustain  the  charges,  and  he  w/  ^ 
better  in  jail." 


628  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

***Tis  a  lie,  sir.  He  was  not  better  in  jail.  We 
have  no  right  to  starve,  and  break  down,  and  send 
crazed  to  the  grave  a  man  we  have  not  the  right  to 
hang." 

**  General  "Wharton,  you  must  be  responsible  to  me 
for  this  insult." 

"D — n  your  craven  heart,  any  attempt  to  justify 
your  cowardly  conduct,  and  I'll  kill  you  on  the  spot." 

General  Wharton  motioned  towards  the  door,  and 
the  provost  marshal,  a  little  paler  but  evidently  as 
collected  as  ever,  walked  out.  Tearing  a  slip  from  a 
blank  book  the  general  hurriedly  penciled  a  note, 
and  sent  it  by  a  turnkey  to  General  Maury.  Then 
he  sat  on  the  bed  and  took  in  his  own  strong  hand 
the  thin,  bloodless  fingers  of  his  enemy,  but  the  man 
whose  daring  he  admired  as  a  soldier  above  all  others. 

"I  wish  they'd  send  me  on  to  Montgomery. 
Where's  the  use  waiting  so  long?" 

As  Hobert  spoke  the  general  pushed  back  from  his 
white  forehead  the  matted,  black  hair. 

"Pjor  Bob  Warren,  I  knew  you  as  a  boy  and  a 
man.  I  once  believed  you  bad,  but  from  my  soul  I 
now  think  your  every  motive  the  prompting  of  prin- 
ciple." 

"  I  wish  they  'd  take  care  of  Little  Ned.  That  turn- 
key might  have  known  it  would  break  the  old  man*s 
heart  if  Little  Ned  was  to  die." 

"  Who  is  this  Little  Ned?"  asked  the  general  of  an 
attendant  standing  near. 

"  He  's  a  boy  as  wuz  captured  in  Georgia,  or  up 
thar.     He  wuz  in  Warren's  company." 

"  Never  mind  about  that ;  where  is  he  now  ?' ' 

"He's  in  the  hospital,  sir.  The  doctor  sent  him 
there  a. month  ago.'* 


RESCUED  FROM  THE  DUNGEON".  627 

**  He  did?  then  why,  in  the  name  of  mercy,  did  n't 
he  send  this  man  there?"  pointing  to  Major  Warren. 

**  "Wall,  reckon  as  how  the  provost  marshal  did  n't 
want  it." 

As  the  attendant  finished,  Greneral  Maury,  an  old, 
soldierly-looking  man,  entered,  an(J  oa  Wharton's  ex- 
plaining the  situation  in  his  stronj*',  emphatic  way,  the 
general  denied  any  knowledge  of  Warren's  condition. 

"  We  deemed  it  best  to  keep  him  a  prisoner,  as  he 
was  a  dangerous  man,  but  the  details  were  left  to  the 
provost  marshal." 

*•  Yes,  curse  him  for  a  cruel  coward.  Why,  this 
morning  he  told  me  as  a  piece  of  information,  in  his 
cold-blooded  way,  that  Major  Warren,  who  comes 
from  my  part  of  Texas,  was  dying  in  jail,  and  if  I 
wished  to  see  him  I  'd  better  go  down  at  once.  I 
did,  and  here  is  a  specimen  of  our  cruelty.  Why, 
General  Maury,  can  we  ask  Grod's  aid,  and  sanction 
this?" 

General  Maury  was  confused ;  he  hesitated,  then 
said:  "I  think  not,  General  Wharton." 

"  Now  begin  at  once  to  undo  this  work.  Major 
Warren  must  be  cared  for  at  once.  If  necessary,  I 
will  foot  the  bills.  He  must  not  remain  here  an  hour, 
if  I  have  to  carry  him  off  myself.  There  is  one  of 
his  men  here  named  Ned  ;  put  him  with  that  man." 

General  Wharton's  wishes  were  complied  with  at 
once,  and  Eobert  Warren  was  carried  from  the  dark 
cell  to  the  roomy  hospital,  where  he  was  bathed  and 
clad  under  General  Wharton's  supervision.  A  nurse 
was  engaged  to  attend  to  him,  and  the  doctor  in 
charge,  a  skillful  man,  was  promised  a  liberal  reward 
in  the  event  of  Warren's  recovery. 


628  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

General  Wharton  remained  about  a  v*ieik  in  Mobile 
before  rejoining  liis  command  in  Georg;*-*,  but  before 
he  left  the  doctor  informed  him  thut  Warren  was 
slowly  improving,  though  still  unconscious.  For 
weeks  Robert  Warren  lay,  the  flickering  light  of  rea-« 
son  growing  daily  stronger,  and  the  thin  limbs  slowly 
filling  up.  The  doctor  was  as  good  as  his  promise, 
and  the  first  soldier  in  the  Confederacy  could  not 
Lave  been  better  cared  for. 

It  was  the  beginning  of  the  sunny  southern  April, 
when  the  perfume  of  the  budding  magnolias  began  to 
load  the  air,  and  the  birds  to  take  up  the  songs  chilled 
by  winter,  when  the  doctor,  sitting  beside  Robert's 
bed,  said : 

* '  Major,  I  think  you  are  strong  enough  now  to 
move  a  little." 

**  Yes,  doctor,  strong  enough  to  ride  if  I  was  back 
with  my  own  men,"  said  Robert,  holding  up  his  white 
hand. 

There  Is  one  of  your  men  in  the  next  room  ;  Ned 
Da\vn.  I  fear  he  cannot  live  through  the  night.  He 
wants  to  see  you." 

"It  seems  like  a  dream  since  poor  Little  Ned  left 
the  cell.     How  is  his  cough  ? '  * 

"  His  cough  is  killing  him,  major." 

"  I  '11  go  !     Let  me  see  him  at  once." 

Robert  tried  to  rise,  but  his  spirit  was  stronger  than 
his  body.     The  doctor  felt  his  pulse. 

••  Major,  I  fear  you  are  not  strong  enough.  Lie  still 
on  your  cot,  I  will  have  it  carried  to  where  Dawn  is." 

The  doctor  soon  carried  out  his  intention ;  four 
stalwart  fellows  picked  up  the  cot,  and  the  major  was 
placed  beside  little  Ned.     He  seemed  wrapped  in  a 


"DON'T  CALL  ME  BACK."  629 

peaceful  sleep,  his  face  was  pale  and  translucent,  and 
his  thin  hands  clasped  above  his  boyish,  yellow  head 

"  Poor  boy  ! " 

"Is  that  the  captain?" 

"It  is  I,  Little  Ned." 

"Give  me  your  hand." 

The  beds  were  pushed  closer  together,  and  the  cap- 
tain clasped  the  pale,  damp  hand. 

"How  are  you,  cap?** 

*  *  Better,  Ned.     Are  you  ?  " 

*'Yes,  I  feel  better  with  you  near.  Grandad  *• 
aead " 

"Who  told  you,  Ned?" 

"  I  saw  him  last  night.  His  head  was  bleeding ; 
but  he  smiled,  and  said,  *  Poor  Little  Ned,  I  won't  be 
happy  unless  yer  along.'  " 

"  No,  Ned,  he  's  living.     You  *11  see  him  again." 

"  Yes,  cap,  up  there  where  there  *s  no  more  fightin*," 
One  thin  finger  was  raised. 

Through  the  day  they  lay  side  by  side,  and  when 
evening  came  the  setting  sun  filled  the  room  with  a 
golden  glory,  while  the  south  wind  scattered  the  in- 
cense of  the  spring  flowers  and  brought  the  song  of 
the  birds. 

" This  is  the  good  land  mother  spoke  of.  Don't 
call  me  back,  captain,  I  must  obey.  Do  n't  call  me 
back." 

The  moon  came  up  full  and  round,  so  that  no 
shadow  of  night  came  to  the  dying  boy's  cot.  He 
rambled  in  his  mind  at  times,  and  spoke  of  war  as  a 
thing  gone  past. 

Day  came,  clear  and  fresh,  and  the  rosy  tinge  of 
the  rising  sun  colored  the  sky. 

46 


530  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"Hold  my  hand,  cap.  There,  keep  me  steady. 
Grandad  is  reaching  for  the  other  hand.  Now  let 
me  go." 

A  long  breath,  a  fluttering  of  the  thin  lips,  the 
bugle  call  came  from  the  army  beyond  the  river,  and 
at  the  mystic  angel's  summons  Little  Ned  joined  the 
ranks  of  his  comrades  gone  before. 


CHAPTEE    XLII. 


OLD    FRIENDS. 

One  morning  in  the  early  June,  the  doctor  entered 
the  hospital  with  a  joyous  face ;  his  face  was  even 
kind.  Grocl  bless  the  doctors  of  both  armies !  in 
brain  and  feeling  as  a  class  they  were  the  noblest  of 
the  enemy,  the  most  unselfish  of  the  patriots. 

"  Major,  you  are  strong  enough  to  travel  now." 

"  Yes,  doctor,  I  feel  all  right.  I  have  been  a  long 
time  on  my  way  to  Montgomery." 

"  This  afternoon  you  start,  still  on  your  parole  of 
honor,  to  report  to  the  commanding  officer  there." 

"  I  am  very  sorry  at  the  thought  of  leaving  you, 
dear  doctor.  I  wish  to  say,  however,  that  there  is 
not  a  man  in  either  army,  whom  I  would  be  more  re- 
joiced to  see  '  when  this  cruel  war  is  over.'  " 

' '  I  can  say  the  same,  major.  Grod  grant  that  the  end 
may  soon  come,  and  let  the  result  be  as  it  may,  so 
gi'eat  is  the  issue,  in  its  results  on  mankind,  that  I 
wall  cheerfully  accept." 

The  doctor  sat  down  beside  the  major,  and  laid  his 
hand  on  his  knee. 

"  Do  you  remember  the  day  General  Wharton  went 
to  see  you  in  jail?" 

*'  No,  doctor.  I  think  of  that  place  as  a  terrible 
nightmare.  The  memories  are  confused  and  the  re- 
alities blended  so  with  the  equally  horrible  dreams. 


632  WARKEN  OF  TEXAS. 

that  I  cannot  separate  them.  From  you  I  have 
learned  of  Wharton's  kindness.  He  is  as  honest  m 
his  convictions  as  he  is  brave  in  his  heart.  May  God 
spare  him  to  see  the  error  of  his  ways." 

"  I  had  a  letter  from  him  a  few  days  since.  He  is 
going  back  to  Texas,  to  take  a  command  under  Gen- 
eral Magruder,  who  is  in  charge  of  that  depart- 
ment. He  is  particularly  anxious  for  your  recovery. 
By  the  way,  you  were  wounded— that  fearful  hole  in 
your  breast — at  Stone  Eiver,  as  your  people  call  the 
battle.  I  was  there.  We  call  the  fight  Murfrees- 
boro." 

"Yes,  doctor,  I  came  near  being  mustered  out 
there,  and,  what  was  to  me  equally  hard,  I  lost  my 
horse  Don— one  of  the  finest  animals  in  the  land 
to-day." 

"  Wharton  got  that  horse  subsequently.  He 
writes  me  that  the  animal  is  now  at  Lefranc's,  near 
Montgomery,  and  that  gentleman  is  to  give  him  to 
you  on  your  personal  application  for  him,  which  of 
course  can  only  be  at  the  close  of  the  war." 

"  I  won 't  swear  to  that,  doctor,  though  the  chances 
are  against  me.  What  is  the  news,  though  ?  1  have 
not  heard  for  a  long  time  ?  " 

"  Sherman  is  pushing  through  Georgia,  and  Joe 
Johnston,  with  an  army  inferior  in  numbers,  is  bravely 
contesting  every  stream  and  hill  where  he  can  make 
a  stand.  Grant  has  been  terribly  worsted  at  Cold 
Harbor,  and  has  pontooned  the  James,  and  laid  siege 
to  the  key  of  Eichmond,  Petersburg.  Our  people  are 
raiding  around  Washington,  and  the  balance  is  about 
the  same.  Lincoln  and  3IcClellan  are  opposite  can- 
didates for  the  Presidency — and  England,  it  is  thought, 


OFF  FOR  MONTGOMERY.  533 

will  intervene  in  behalf  of  the  South.  She  must 
have  cotton,  and  here  is  her  only  supply." 

"  I  do  not  care  much  about  England's  attitude  ;  the 
day  will  come  when  the  South  will  detest  her  selfish 
course  as  the  North  does.  She  is  the  Israelite  of  na- 
tions, and  would  g^lory  if  she  could  make  money  from 
the  garments  of  the  Liberty  she  is  helping  to  crush. 
The  other  part  of  the  situation  is  against  you.  Sher- 
man means  Atlanta,  and  Grrant  will  have  Richmond 
before  twelve  months  pass.  I  cannot  doubt  the  re- 
sult, doctor,  without  doubting  the  existence  of  a  Grod, 
and  that  I  cannot  do — would  not  want  to  do  and  live." 

"  We  are  both  honest  in  our  convictions,  major. 
Let  the  subject  drop.  I  have  carefully  complied  with 
your  request  about  Little  Ned's  grave.  We  got  the 
money  those  scoundrels  stole  from  you  in  jail.  It 
only  took  one-half  to  make  the  grave  and  inclose  it 
properly ;  here  is  the  rest — forty  dollars  in  gold.  I 
wish  it  was  the  medium  of  circulation  now,"  said  the 
doctor,  as  he  pressed  the  money  into  Major  Warren's 
hand  and  rose  to  depart. 

Robert  felt  deeply  the  kindness  of  this  good  man, 
and,  in  his  plans  for  the  future,  when  peace  came, 
Doctor  Williamson,  of  Mobile,  occupied  a  conspicuous 
place. 

That  afternoon,  at  his  own  request,  his  parole  was 
Surrendered,  and,  in  company  with  an  officer,  he 
started  for  Montgomery.  They  took  the  steamer  for 
Blakely,  passing  the  obstructions  in  the  harbor,  and 
sailing  past  Buchanan's  formidable  iron-clads,  des- 
tined yet  to  surrender  to  ships  less  invulnerable, 
guided  by  a  cooler  head.  At  Blakely  they  took  the 
cars  north  for  Montgomery.  About  midnight  the 
45* 


534  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

train  stopped  at  Pollard,  and  next  day  Major  "Warren 
dined  at  Montgomery  in  company  with  Captain  Lor- 
ing,  the  officer  who  accompanied  him. 

•'I  wish  you  would  take  a  parole.  Major  Warren, 
it  would  save  me  an  unpleasant  duty  and  be  better 
for  yourself,"  said  the  captain,  as  they  sat  smoking 
after  dinner. 

"  I  fully  appreciate  your  kindness,  captain  ;  but  it 
would  not  be  just  to  you  nor  myself.  I  am  deter- 
mined to  get  away  as  soon  as  I  can.  The  facts  of  my 
capture  are  unknown  in  the  Union  army,  and  I  dread 
being  under  a  cloud  till  I  get  back  to  explain." 

*'  Well,  I  don't  blame  you.  I  presume  I  would  do 
the  same  thing  myself.  Promise  me,  at  least,  that 
you  will  remain  here  quietly  till  I  return  in  about  an 
hour,"  said  the  captain,  rising. 

*'  Indeed,  I  would  be  an  ingrate  to  deceive  one  so 
kind,"  replied  the  major,  reaching  out  his  hand.  The 
captain  clasped  it,  looked  into  the  major's  eyes,  and 
thus  they  stood,  breast  to  breast,  as  brothers  of  some 
mystic  tie.  In  a  w^hisper  they  exchange  a  few  words, 
meaningless  in  themselves,  but  suggestive  of  a  bro- 
therhood extended  as  civilization,  and  whose  records 
date  back  to  the  days  of  tradition. 

The  captain  passed  out,  and  the  major  resumed  his 
segar  and  awaited  his  return.  Two  hours  elapsed  be- 
fore Captain  Loring  returned.  He  was  accompanied 
by  a  tall,  dignified,  elderly  gentleman  in  uniform, 
whom  he  introduced  as  Colonel  Lefranc.  Robert  im- 
mediately thought  of  Don,  remembering  what  the 
doctor  had  told  him. 

*'  I  have  heard  of  you,  major,  from  my  friend  Gen- 
eral Wharton,"  said  the  colonel,   "  and  the  last  thing 


A  "CARPET  KNIGHT.  685 

he  said  to  me  was  that  he  wished  you  were  back  again 
with  your  own  people." 

"I  am  certainly  obliged  for  all  his  kindness.  I 
owe  my  life  to  him ;  and  I  hope  we  may  both  be 
spared  to  see  the  end,  that  I  can  the  better  show  my 
appreciation  of  his  services." 

"I  regret  that  you  will  not  take  a  parole,  major. 
I  should  be  pleased,  in  that  event,  to  have  you  spend 
a  few  days  with  me.  I  am  confident  we  could  soon 
have  you  exchanged." 

"I  am  more  thankful,  colonel,  than  I  can  express ; 
but  I  fear  the  want  of  exercise  for  mind  and  body* 
which  a  parole  would  produce,  might  injure  me.'* 
Then  laughing,  he  rose  and  walked  to  a  mirror  that 
hung  over  the  mantel-piece,  and,  as  he  surveyed  his 
pale  face  and  reduced  form,  he  continued,  ''  I  don't 
look  as  if  I  could  injure  you  much,  even  if  I  were 
North.  Ah,  me  !  that  sickness  has  made  me  a  carpet 
knight." 

The  colonel  laughed,  and  in  his  courteous  way 
said : 

"Heaven  save  the  Confederacy  from  an  army  of 
such  carpet-knights."  Then  lowering  his  voice,  in  a 
sadder  key  he  said  :  "Major,  I  deplore  the  necessity 
of  sending  you  to  prison  to-night.  It  is  your  own 
fault.  We  will  make  the  jail  as  pleasant  as  possible 
for  you,  however." 

"Thank  you,  colonel.  Let  it  be  like  temperance 
punch." 

"How  is  that?" 

"  Why,  the  weaker  the  better." 

The  captain  gave  Kobert  a  quick,  suggestive  look, 
and  all  kindly  laughing  at  what  Kobert  called  his 


536  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

*'  sickly  joke,"  they  descended  from  the  room  and 
walked  around  to  the  jail. 

The  room  into  which  Kobert  was  ushered,  with  its 
carpet  and  furniture,  looked  like  anything  but  a  eel!. 
He  subsequently  learned  it  was  a  part  of  the  jailor's 
quarters.  Colonel  Lefranc  gave  directions  to  have 
the  major's  every  want  attended  to.  As  they  passed 
out  the  captain  said,  in  a  low  voice:  "You  will  see 
me  again,  at  eleven  to-night."  Robert  heard,  and  his 
heart  gave  a  bound  of  joy.  There  was  a  something 
in  the  captain's  manner  that  spoke  of  an  approaching 
deliverance. 

Ajixiously  Robert  paced  the  room,  and  tried  to  read 
the  books  so  thoughtfully  provided,  but  he  seemed 
more  a  prisoner  now  than  when,  in  Mobile,  he  stood 
on  the  iron  bed  and  tried  to  catch  beyond  the  blank 
wall  a  glimpse  of  the  setting  sun.  Then  he  would 
have  run  any  risk  for  freedom  ;  now  bonds  of  kindness 
and  a  load  of  gratitude  were  on  him  harder  to  break 
and  remove  than  the  restraints  of  the  cold-blooded 
Dennis.  Eleven  o'clock  came,  as  he  heard  by  the 
clock  in  the  adjacent  steeple,  and  no  captain.  Slowly 
twelve  came,  and  with  the  last  clang  of  the  bell  he 
heard  an  emphatic  rap  at  his  door.  In  answer  to  his 
*'  Come  in  !"  the  door  opened  and  a  bearded  man,  with 
a  slouched  hat  and  heavy  riding  boots,  stepped  to  his 
side,  and  in  a  low,  grufif  voice  said  : 

' '  Now  is  your  time  !     Follow  me  ! " 

Quick  as  a  flash  Robert  put  on  his  hat  and  threw 
over  his  shoulders  the  gray  cape  the  doctor  had  so 
kindly  insisted  on  his  taking. 

"  I  am  ready  ! " 

"This  way!" 


«  BROTHERS,  NOT  FRIENDS."  537 

He  followed  the  guide  down  stairs,  out  into  tbe 
star-lit,  quiet  street. 

"Walk  by  m^'  side."  As  his  guide  spoke  the 
rapidity  and  length  of  his  strides  increased,  and  his 
spurred  heels  came  down  with  a  fierce  emphasis  at 
each  strong  step.  Out  through  the  town  they  quickly 
passed  and  reached  the  Alabama  Rivera  little  above. 
Standing  by  the  water's  edge,  the  guide  whistled,  and 
suddenly  a  light  sprang  up  amid  the  dark  green 
foliage  of  the  opposite  bank.  Soon  a  boat  put  out, 
rowed  by  a  man  dressed  like  the  guide,  and  equally 
taciturn.  The  boat  had  hardly  touched  the  shore 
before  Robert,  at  a  motion  from  the  guide's  hand, 
leaped  in,  and  the  guide  himself,  with  a  powerful 
push,  accompanied  by  a  leap  that  sent  him  into  the 
bow  of  the  boat,  shoved  it  far  out  in  the  stream. 

A  few  seconds  and  they  were  across,  where  a  negro 
held  a  flaming  torch,  showing  in  the  background  two 
horses. 

"  Major  Warren,'*  said  the  guide,  "  you  will  find 
your  horse  Don  in  the  woods.  You  are  now  free.  In 
the  saddle-bags  you  will  find  money  and  instructions ; 
follow  them  out  carefully.'* 

"How  can  I  thank  you?  G-od  bless  you,  more 
than  friend ! "  said  Robert,  with  unsuppressed  emo- 
tion, as  he  extended  his  hand.  The  guide  took  it, 
and  as  he  covered  the  grip  with  his  left  hand  he  said  : 

• '  We  are  brothers,  not  friends.  May  God  lead  you 
to  the  light.** 

Robert  shook  hands  with  the  man  who  brought  over 
the  boat,  receiving  the  same  mystic  sign  as  he  snid : 

"K  in  your  army  an  opportunity  presents  itself  to 
aid  a  brother  from  our  side,  do  by  him  as  we  this 


5S8  WAEREX  OF  TEXAS. 

night  have  done  by  you."  The  soldiers  turned,  en- 
tered the  boat,  and  with  a  few  rapid  strokes  were  lost 
in  the  darkness  that  hung  over  the  river. 

"  Where  do  you  come  from,  boy  ?"  asked  Pwobert, 
turning  to  the  negro,  who  had  extinguished  th«  torch. 

"  I's  one  ob  Mauss  Lefranc's  boys." 

"  Do  you  know  who  those  gentlemen  are  wto  have 
just  crossed  the  river?" 

"  Yes,  mauss,  de  one  wat  come  'long  wid  yoU*  j  Cap*n 
Loring;  de  odder's  young  Mauss  Wash.  Lefr^ic.'* 

"  Show  me  Don,  my  horse."  The  black  boy  led 
him  back  from  the  river,  where,  'mid  a  clump  of  trees, 
the  horses  were  fastened.  A  low  neigh  of  ret  .)gnition 
from  Don,  and  Robert  stood  beside  him  with  his  arms 
about  the  noble  animal's  neck. 

"Don,  old  boy,  this  seems  like  a  dream.  You  old 
scamp,  what  made  you  run  the  wrong  way  af  er  I  fell, 
eh?" 

Robert  stroked  the  arched  neck  and  pttted  the 
sleek  sides  as  he  spoke,  ^hile  Don  rubbed  his  nose 
against  him,  and  with  affectionate  little  neighs,  in 
tended  for  a  satisfactory  explanation,  he  enjoyed  the 
meeting  more  than  he  could  express. 

The  black  boy  arranged  the  bridle,  and  Robert 
vaulted  into  the  saddle.  He  was  a  mar  again,  free, 
with  a  good  horse  beneath  him.  The  stars  shone 
more  brightly,  and  the  cool  night  wind  came  grate- 
fully to  him,  and  the  certain  past  bectvne  a  dream 
and  the  uncertain  future  hope  made  a  reality. 

"Boy,  3'ou  are  to  guide  me." 

'*  Yes,  mauss,  I  goes  'long  wid  yeh  t  11  day 

* '  Are  you  ready  ?" 

"  Yes,  mauss,"  said  the  black  boy,  mounting  and 


IN  GOOD  CARE.  539 

starting  at  a  brisk  trot  up  the  river.  Kobert  longed 
to  let  his  horse  out,  and  enjoy  once  more  the  exhila- 
rating feeling  of  a  gallop  on  his  favorite  horse.  And 
Don  seemed  equally  anxious  to  show  his  limbs  had 
not  lost  their  ancient  fleetness,  but  he  was  equally 
anxious  to  show  hi«  obedience,  and  sensibly  remained 
behind  the  heavy,  plodding  animal  which  the  black 
guide  rode. 

Shortly  after  daylight  the  black  man  stopped  be- 
fore a  house,  and  requesting  the  major  to  remain  out- 
side, he  took  from  his  pocket,  where  it  was  carefully 
wrapped,  a  letter,  and  entered.  In  a  few  minutes  a 
man  in  slippers  and  a  wrapper  appeared,  and  stand- 
ing on  the  gallery  called  out : 

"Dismount,  major;  your  horse  will  be  cared  for. 
Welcome— you  are  just  in  time  for  breakfast."  This  was 
said  as  the  major  approached  the  gallery,  and  in  the 
hand  greeting  that  he  received  he  felt  the  sign  that 
convinced  him  he  v/as  still  under  the  care  of  brothers. 
The  hospitality  was  as  thoughtful  and  generous  as 
the  refined  planter's  ever  is.  After  a  good  bath  and 
a  hearty  breakfast,  for  which  the  major  had  a  good 
appetite,  the  planter  told  him  he  must  rest  till  night, 
when  he  would  send  a  guide  with  him  to  Kingston ;' 
in  the  meantime  he  would  send  back  Colonel  Lefranc's 
boy. 

When  Kobert  went  to  his  room,  he  felt  the  stiff- 
ness  resulting  from  his  ride,  and  was  glad  to  stretch 
himself  on  the  white,  clean  bed.  He  was  about  sink- 
ing  into  a  doze,  when  he  bethought  him  of  the  in- 
structions which  Captain  Loring  told  him  were  in 
his  saddle-bags.  He  anxiously  opened  the  package 
addressed  to  himself.     The  first  thing  he  saw  was% 


640  WAEREN  OF  TEXAS. 

roll  of  Confederate  money,  and  then  a  letter.  He 
read  the  letter,  which  briefly  stated  the  cause  that 
led  to  the  captain^s  friendship,  and  the  hope  for  his 
successful  escape.  It  said  that  he  could  count  on 
friends,  and  need  have  no  fears  till  after  leaving 
Kingston,  Perry  County ;  then  he  must  use  his  own 
judgment.  A  small  map  of  the  Southern  States  was 
found  in  the  package,  with  a  route  marked  down  lead- 
ing to  Baton  Rouge,  and  which  Robert  determined  to 
take,  passing  next  by  York  and  South  of  Meridian. 

He  had  a  most  refreshing  sleep  that  day,  not  wak- 
ing tin  Mr.  Norton  knocked  in  person  at  his  door, 
and  came  to  summon  him  to  supper. 

About  eight  o'clock  his  horse  was  brought  out,  and 
Mr.  Norton,  giving  careful  instructions  to  one  of  his 
own  men,  who  was  to  act  as  guide,  bade  the  major 
God-speed. 

During  his  stay  with  Mr.  Norton,  that  gentleman 
never  once  mentioned  the  war,  nor  alluded  to  the 
fact  that  the  major  was  a  Yankee,  escaping  to  the 
Union  lines  to  take  up  arms  against  him  and  his 
friends. 

It  was  eight  o'clock  next  morning  before  the  black 
boy  reined  in  his  horse  before  a  large  house,  near  the 
Methodist  church  in  the  rambling  village  of  Marion. 

*'Mauss  Clark,  de  brudder,  libs  heah." 
'   "Whose  brudder,  boy?" 

*'My  brudder,  an  your  brudder,  an*  de  Lor's." 

"Oh,  he  is  a  clergyman  ! — all  right." 

The  black  boy  entered  the  house,  and  Robert  dis- 
mounted to  rest  and  await  him. 

An  old,  venerable-looking  man  soon  made  his  ap- 
pearance, and,  after  wannly  greeting  the  major,  whom 


RESTED.  541 

he  addiessed  by  name,  he  sent  the  black  boy  with  the 
horses  to  an  adjacent  livery  stable. 

**  Come  in,  brother,  you  need  food  and  rest ;  thank 
God,  it  is  in  my  power  to  give  you  both." 

It  was  a  cleai  ,  quiet  house,  with  books  scattered 
about,  and  evid<3nces  in  furniture  and  pictures  of  re- 
fined taste  and  a  woman's  hand. 

Breakfast  was  soon  prepared,  and,  although  Mr. 
Clark  had  eaten  before,  he  sat  down  with  his  guest, 
and  offered  up  a  blessing,  sweet  in  its -charity  and 
kindness,  for  the  food  the  major  was  about  to  enjoy. 

The  room  in  which  the  major  slept  was  cool  and 
airy,  and  during  the  day,  in  a  half-conscious  way,  he 
heard  a  low,  sweet  voice,  and  listened  as  in  dreams  to 
the  soft,  quick  steps  of  a  woman's  feet.  He  felt  better, 
rested  better  for  it. 

He  rose  about  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  and 
found  Mr.  Clark  awaiting  him. 

"You  have  a  long  ride,  with  much  fatigue  and 
danger,  before  you.  Let  me  hope,  brother,  that  you 
have  rested  well.     Robert  assured  him  that  he  had. 

"  Beyond  this,  I  fear  there  is  no  one  you  can  trust ; 
but  I  would  advise  you  to  go  out  by  York.  You 
could,  perhaps,  reach  your  people  sooner  by  going 
north,  but  the  road  to  you  would  be  dangerous,  and 
the  probabilities  of  a  return  to  captivity  strong.'* 

* '  I  am  very  thankful,  sir,  and  will  take  your  ad- 
vice," 

"  You  must  start  before  dark,  so  as  to  reach  the 
Cahawba  road.  By  twelve  o'clock  to-night  you  can 
reach  Corsin's  Tavern.  Your  own  discretion  must  be 
exercised  as  to  your  remaining  there." 

Mr.  Clark  then  led  Robert  into  the  room  v*^here  he 
46 


642  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

had  breakfasted,  and  where  the  table  was  set  for  two. 
Again  the  good  man  prayed,  and  asked  God  for  a 
speedy  peace  in  a  way  that  to  llim  would  seem  just 
and  right  for  his  people  and  the  holy  cause  of  reli- 
gion. 

The  adventures  of  the  past  few  days  seemed  like  a 
dream  to  Robert,  and  he  only  realized  again  the  cause 
when,  before  mounting,  he  held  the  good  man's  hand 
with  the  grip  of  swoni  fidelity. 

He  was  now  alone,  and  though  the  future  seemed 
uncertain,  and  must  be  shaped  by  circumstances,  he 
felt  more  like  a  man.  He  reached  the  place,  which 
he  recognized  from  Mr.  Clark's  description  as  Cor- 
sin's  Tavem,  about  eleven  o'clock  that  night.  In- 
forming the  landlord  that  he  wished  to  remain  for  the 
night,  and  that  his  hotel  was  recommended  by  Mr. 
Clark,  of  Marion,  he  found  the  sallow-looking  host 
quite  willing  to  care  for  him  and  his  horse.  The 
accommodation  was  not  good,  but  the  guest  was  not 
particular,  and  willingly  paid  the  twenty  dollars 
charged  him  in  the  morning.  In  answer  to  Robert's 
inquiry,  after  he  had  mounted  in  the  morning,  Mr. 
Corsin  advised  him  to  keep  north  of  York,  and  as- 
sured him  that  by  a  ride  of  forty-five  miles  he  could 
reach  his  brother's  place.  This  brother,  he  said,  was 
a  planter,  but  since  the  war  *'  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
keerin'  for  travelin'  folk." 

Getting  the  directions  carefully,  Robert  bade  the 
bilious  landlord  farewell  and  turned  his  horse's  head 
west. 

He  traveled  through  a  country  rich  in  all  its  natural 
advantages,  but  poor  in  its  people  and  their  industries. 
The  section  had  not  been  injured  by  the  war,  but  in 


"  ARCHY,  MY  BOY !  "  643 

its  dilapidated  bnildings  and  broken  fences  and  half- 
tilled  fields  it  looked  as  if  suffering  some  fearful 
scourge. 

Once  or  twice  Robert  lost  his  way,  but  he  suc- 
ceeded in  finding  Corsin's  plantation  shortly  after 
dark.  G-iving  the  black  man  who  took  his  horse  par- 
ticular instructions  as  to  his  care,  Rober.t  entered  the 
house.  The  proprietor  was  in  Meridian,  but  his  wife, 
a  slovenly,  aguish-looking  woman,  with  very  bad  teeth 
and  a  protruding  chin,  aided  by  a  one-armed  ex- 
soldier,  had  charge  of  the  place.  Kobert  was  roomed 
in  an  out-building,  and  as  there  was  nothing  to  enter- 
tain him  he  retired  early. 

He  was  sleeping  soundly  about  midnight,  when  he 
became  conscious  of  the  presence  of  some  person  in 
his  room,  and  his  eyes  were  affected  by  a  faint  light. 
He  turned  his  head,  and  there,  standing  beside  him, 
with  a  look  of  wonder  and  joy  on  his  face  was  Archy  ! 
Quick  as  a  flash  the  light  went  out. 

"  Archy,  my  boy  !  " 

"  Oh,  bless  de  Lor',  Mauss  Bob  !  "  Archy  threw 
his  arm  over  his  master,  and  sobbed  with  very  joy. 

**  Oh,  de  Lor'  is  good — better 'n  I,  a  poor  sinner, 
kin  'spect." 

"  How  have  you  been,  Archy  ?  Is  this  man  Corsin 
the  fellow  that  bought  you?" 

*'Yes,  Mauss — God  forgive  him!  He's  beat  me 
offen,  an'  I  wanted  to  die,  but  a  thinkin'  on  you  and 
d'»  pickanninies " 

"  Well,  Archy,  I  have  had  a  rough  time.  I  am 
now  escaping.     What  time  is  it  ?  " 

"  It 's  de  middle  ob  de  night." 

•'  Did  you  see  Don?  " 


644  WARRKN  OF  TEXAS. 

'*  Praise  de  Lor',  yes.     Where  did  he  come  from?  " 

"I  will  tell  you  all,  after  awhile.  Don  is  fresh 
enough  to  travel." 

*'  Yes,  mauss,  reckon  he  'dkeep  it  up  fur  a  week." 

"  Are  there  any  other  horses  in  the  stable  T' 

"  Yes,  mauss,  two." 

"  Saddle  the  best  of  them,  and  Don,  at  once,  I  will 
iress ;  are  there  any  arms  about  the  house?" 

"Do  n't  know,  Mauss." 

*'  Well,  get  the  black  people  to  see,  I  will  pay  them. 
Be  quick  and  quiet."  As  Robert  spoke  he  rose  and 
hurriedly  dressed,  and  Archy  passed  out. 

The  work  of  saddling  was  short,  and  as  Robert  and 
Archy  stood  beside  their  horses  an  old  negro  man, 
barefooted,  stole  softly  from  the  house. 

"Heah,  four  pistols  an'  all  de  fixens,  an'  a  rifle." 

"Thank  you  uncle,  some  day  I  will  bring  you 
liberty,  to  pay  for  this." 

To  which  the  uncle  replied,  "Lor*  heah  de  prayer." 

The  pistols  w^ere  loaded,  and  strapping  them  on 
Robert  and  Archy  mounted,  the  latter  carrying  the 
rifle.  A  quiet  ride  for  a  few  hundred  yards,  then,  as 
in  days  gone  past,  master  and  man  were  on  the  war- 
path and  free. 


CHAPTER   XLIII 


THE   LAST    BUT    ONE. 

It  would  be  a  repetition  of  much  that  has  been  said 
to  narrat^  in  detail  the  incidents  and  adventures  of 
"Warren's  escape  westward  from  York  with  his  servant. 
In  itself  the  story  would  be  a  marvel  of  coolness, 
daring,  and  escape ;  but  as  a  link  in  the  chain  of  an 
eventful  career,  it  would  be  but  the  additional  con- 
firmation of  the  character  Robert  Warren  has  already 
established  in  these  pages,  and  in  the  liberty  of  his 
country.  Long  rides  by  night,  with  negro  guides ; 
days  spent  in  the  woods,  with  man  or  master  on 
guard ;  fears  of  pursuit,  and  hopes  of  the  vicinity  of 
friends  ;  detours  to  the  North  or  South,  and  retrograde 
movements  when  there  was  danger  in  the  advance ; 
days  of  hunger  and  nights  of  rain,  unsheltered,  all 
went  to  make  up  the  outlines  of  that  escape  to  Baton 
Rouge. 

It  was  the  middle  of  the  summer  of  '64,  when 
ragged  and  half  famished,  Robert,  on  the  still  spirited 
but  emaciated  Don,  and  Archy,  on  a  mule  he  had 
borrowed,  one  early  day-light,  entered  the  town  of 
Baton  Rouge,  Louisiana.  Major  Warren's  fame  had 
preceded  him,  and  after  the  officer  in  command  at 
Baton  Rouge  became  satisfied  as  to  his  identity,  he 
received  that  cordial  welcome  which  only  a  soldier 
can  give,  particularly  If  he  came  from  Massachuset^: 
46* 


546  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Robert  learned  at  Baton  Rouge  that  he  was  reported 
killed,  and  Colonel  Fellows  showed  a  number  of  news- 
paper eulogies,  all  speaking  in  the  highest  terms  of 
the  Union  scout,  and  deploring  his  untimely  death. 

Only  those  who  have  been  captives  away  from 
the  protection  of  their  own  flag  can  appreciate  the 
feelings  of  one  returning,  after  what  seemed  an  age,  to 
his  own  land,  made  so  by  the  banner  under  which  he 
fought  and  not  by  the  geographical  position  of  the 
place  where  it  floated.  ^ 

General  Banks  v^'as  acquainted  at  once  wit'*!  the 
escape  of  "Warren  and  ordered  him  to  report  at  his 
headquarters,  in  New  Orleans.  Before  doi/ij^,  so,  he 
sent  on  to  Yicksburg"  for  his  effects,  the  principal 
things  amongst  them  being  the  remnants  cf  the  old 
flag  torn  down  from  the  flagstaff  at  Bfa7(»ria  in  the 
March  of  '61.  He  wrote  to  Mary,  stiil  if^nrking  in  the 
hospitals  at  Nashville,  and  to  Richan*.«on,  now  fight- 
ing with  Sherman  before  the  dePeriKPF  of  Atlanta. 

Robert  learned  with  regret,  at  l^aton  Rouge,  of  the 
death  of  old  Dam:,  and  he  /o'-i>embered,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  date,  the  death- "A'ords  of  little  Ned.  We 
are  all  superstitious,  no  ir.dtter  what  creed  or  belief 
we  hold  and  to 2  comcidonce  made  an  impression 
on  the  mind  of  Warren  which  only  death  can  efface. 
Perhaps  death  will  confirm  the  event  by  showing  the 
relations  existing  between  the  peoples  of  the  seen 
and  unseen  worlds. 

Ten  days  at  Baton  Rouge  and  Robert  Warren,  who 
had  entered  the  place  weakened  by  travel  and  the 
want  of  rest,  was  ready  with  his  servant  to  obey  the 
order  of  General  Banks,  and  report  at  New  Orleans. 

He  descended  the  river,  the  very  waters  of  which 


ROBERT'S  FAITH.  547 

were  suggestive  to  him  of  former  scenes  of  danger, 
and  exploits  as  wonderful  as  those  which  make  ro- 
mantic the  knights  of  the  middle  ages.  From  the 
day  when  he  crossed  it  escaping  to  Kentucky  to  the 
night  when  in  the  boat  he  crossed  with  Rose,  the  era 
of  startling  events  was  pictured  on  his  mind.  He 
crossed  first  feeling  that  right  would  triumph  and 
that  the  fragments  of  the  flag  he  carried  in  his  breast 
would  yet  float  in  triumph  over  the  Court-house  from 
which  it  was  torn.  Now,  after  years  of  suffering  and 
battle,  during  which  many  of  those  he  loved  had 
fallen,  and  thousands  of  those  with  whom  he  had 
fought  had  gone  down  to  soldiers*  graves.  Now,  be- 
fore Petersburg  Gran t*s  legions  were  digging  to  unearth 
treason,  and  before  Atlanta  Sherman  was  maneuver- 
ing for  victory.  Banks  had  been  defeated  on  the 
Ked  River,  Sturgis  beaten  beyond  Memphis,  Fort 
Pillow  had  left  its  dark  mark  on  the  map,  and  the 
stories  of  rebel  prisons  become  facts  which  his  own 
terrible  experience  could  verify  ;  still  the  faith  remained 
unshaken,  the  love  of  liberty  intensified,  and  the  cer- 
tainty of  a  triumphant  return  to  Texas  became  an 
affair  as  sure  as  existence.  Once  Robert  Warren  had 
heard  a  southern  man  say,  that  ' '  if  the  Confederacy 
failed,  he  would  lose  his  faith  in  a  God." 

He  always  thought  that  if  the  cause  of  the  nation 
went  dowri,  the  cause  of  God  and  man  would  go  with 
it,  and  he  felt  that  God  never  permitted  His  cause 
to  go  backward. 

John  Wharton,  had  risen  to  honor  and  distinction 
in  the  Southern  army.  He  was  the  bravest  of  the 
brave,  and  the  truest  of  the  true,  to  the  cause  he 
deemed  right.     During  Warren's  imprisonment,  as  a 


648  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

favor  to  himself,  and,  as  it  was  supposed,  for  the  good 
of  the  Confederacy,  he  was  sent  beyond  the  Missis- 
sippi, where  he  was  destined  to  fall  by  the  hands  of 
an  assassin,  who  was  warmly  enlisted  in  the  Southern 
cause,  and  who  had  that  Southern  idea  of  right,  which 
made  the  wronged  the  judge  of  his  own  case,  and  the 
executioner  of  the  penalty  his  own  uncurbed  passions 
might  dictate.  John  Morgan  was  in  Tennessee  at  that 
time,  it  was  the  limit  of  his  exploits,  for  he  fell  by  a 
Union  bullet,  and  his  daring  became  a  subject  for 
Southern  tradition  after  that  summer  of  'G4.  Allen 
-Warren  was  a  colonel  with  Kousseau,  and  his  cool 
daring  had  won  the  respect  of  the  Army  and  led  to  his 
favorable  mention  in  the  reports  of  a  chief  unsparing 
with  his  praise. 

The  cause  of  the  Union  looked  well.  Had  it  ap- 
peared darker,  it  would  not  have  shaken  Warren's 
faith.  His  case  was  that  of  the  enlisted  minority, 
through  whose  faith  and  valor  the  war  was  brought 
to  a  successful  issue. 

New  Orleans  in  '64,  apart  from  the  important 
Union  element,  was  the  New  Orleans  of  18G1 — trea- 
son-loving, negro-worshiping,  and  devoid  of  virtue 
and  religion.  Cowardly  gamblers,  old  Southern  men, 
and  women  lost  to  all  sense  of  decency  and  right, 
comprised  the  major  part  of  a  population  never  noted 
for  its  tone  of  justice,  or  its  adherence  to  the  dec- 
alogue. The  men  who  wore  the  blue  in  '64  as  in  'Gl, 
and  later,  were  objects  of  insult  and  ridicule  to  per- 
sons who  lacked  the  pride  to  show  openly  their  hate. 
Butler,  coarse  and  lacking  sensibilities,  witli  a  strong 
heart  and  a  cool  head,  was  the  proper  man  for  New 
Orleans ;    and  though   nov/   working  in  the  useless 


MR.  HENRY.  649 

Dutch  Gap  Canal,  the  lesson  he  had  taught  New  Or- 
leans traitors  was  not  forgotten  by  them  under  the 
milder  rule  of  Banks. 

The  reception  Major  Warren  received  at  New  Or- 
leans compensated  him  for  all  his  sufferings,  and,  after 
a  few  days'  stay,  he  learned  with  a  feeling  of  delight 
that  he  was  to  be  sent  as  provost  marshal  to  New 
Iberia,  near  which  he  remembered  Mr.  Henry,  the 
friend  of  his  sister,  lived. 

New  Iberia,  as  has  before  been  stated,  is  situated 
on  the  Bayou  Teche,  a  few  hours'  ride  from  Berwick's 
Bay.  Around  it  is  the  heart  of  Louisiana,  in  wealth 
and  culture,  the  largest  slave  interest,  and  the  strong- 
est Southern  feeling. 

The  position  of  Major  Warren  was  anything  but 
pleasant.  Daily,  for  the  first  two  weeks,  he  was  beset 
by  men  whose  slaves  had  run  away,  and  who  claimed, 
in  order  to  have  them  recovered,  to  be  Union  men, 
and  by  persons  who  were  continually  complaining 
against  the  asserted  robberies  of  Union  soldiers. 

One  day  a  gentleman  sent  in  his  card,  marked  "im- 
portant," and  signed  "  Henry."  It  did  not  take  long 
for  the  gentleman  to  gain  an  audience.  An  orderly 
brought  him  into  the  major's  office. 

"  Mr.  Henry,  I  believe  this  is  your  card?" 

**  Yes,  sir,  I  wished  to  see  you  privately." 

"  I  can  speak  with  you  privately  here,  sir.  Ser- 
geant, clear  the  office." 

The  sergeant  did  clear  the  office,  and  Major  Warren, 
half  surmising  who  the  man  was,  pointed  Mr.  Henry 
to  a  chair. 

"Excuse  me.  Major  WaiTen,  but  I  heard  of  the  ar- 
rival of  a  person  of  your  name  in  New  Iberia.     I  own 


650  WAKEEN  OF  TEXAS. 

property  near  here,  but,  for  the  last  two  years,  I  have 
been  living  in  Algiers,  opposite  New  Orleans.  A  lady 
who  supposes  you  to  be  her  son  is  now  stopping  at  my 
house." 

"  What !     Where  did  the  lady  come  from?" 

"  She  came  from  Gonzelletta,  Texas,  and  is  the 
widow  of  Robert  Warren,  senior." 

"  And  the  mother  of  Robert  Warren,  junior  !  I  am 
her  son." 

Robert  shook  the  hand  of  Mr.  Henry,  warmly,  and 
added,  as  he  drew  his  chair  near  that  gentleman's : 

♦'  Are  you  the  friend  of  Mary  Warren — the  gentle- 
man who  accompanied  her  from  Texas,  and  saw  her 
safely  off  for  Vicksburg?" 

"  I  did  accompany  the  young  lady  as  you  describe, 
and  I  am  convinced  she  is  your  sister ;  but  I  have 
more  important  information  for  you  than  that,  for  it 
has  become  a  matter  of  the  past." 

"  To  what  do  you  refer?" 

"  Well,  major,  I  have  now  under  my  roof  three 
ladies  in  whom  you  are  interested.  One  of  them  is 
your  mother,  the  other  tv/o  are  Mrs.  Boardman  and  her 
daughter  Amy.    I  presume  you  know  the  latter  lady  ?  " 

"  Indeed  I  do,  Mr.  Henry ;  and  I  am  glad  to  know 
they  are  in  the  care  of  a  man  so  good  and  true  as  I 
know  you  to  be.  I  learned  that  Mrs.  Boardman  had 
suffered  by  the  confiscation  of  her  property,  but  I 
couldnot  learn,  heretofore,  what  had  become  of  them." 

"  The  coincidence  was  strange.  I  learned  your 
mother's  condition,  and  that  of  Mrs.  Boardman  and 
Miss  Amy,  from  your  sister,  and  T  w'as  prepared  for 
what  followed,  though  I  did  not  expect  to  be  the  in- 
strument of  help  to  them." 


NEWS  OF  DEAR  ONES.  55i 

"  I  am  deeply  interested  in  this  matter,  Mr.  Henry ; 
please  relate  it.  For  more  than  two  years,  since  my 
sister  left  Texas,  I  have  been  in  total  ignorance  of 
the  condition  of  my  mother  and  of  Mrs.  Boardman 
and  her  daughter,  to  whom,  you  may  have  learned,  I 
am  engaged." 

*'  It  was  to  tell  you  of  this  that  I  came  on  from 
Algiers.  Once,  major,  my  plantation  was  the  finest 
on  the  Teche.  I  had  scores  of  hands  and  hundreds 
of  cattle,  and  was  considered  wealthy.  To-day  I  am 
poor.  General  Banks,  on  the  side  of  the  Union,  and 
Dick  Taylor,  on  the  side  of  the  rebels,  have  carried 
off  negroes  and  cattle.  In  a  fight,  tliat  occurred  last 
year,  my  dweUing  and  sugar-house  were  burned  do^\Ti 
to  make  room  for  Taylor's  artillery,  and  the  slaves 
that  he  did  not  carry  off  attached  themselves  to  the 
pursuing  army  of  Banks.  I  was  fortunate  in  having 
some  property  in  New  Orleans,  which  enables  me  to 
live  in  a  quiet  way  for  the  present ;  but  so  small  have 
been  my  losses  and  sufferings  compared  with  yours, 
that  I  feel  ashamed  for  having  mentioned  them  in 
your  presence." 

"  Grod  bless  you,  Mr.  Henry !  It  does  me  good  to 
meet  such  a  man,  and  it  strengthens  my  faith  as  to 
the  result  of  this  teiTible  war ;  but  tell  me  about  my 
mother  and  the  rest  of  my  friends  in  your  care." 

"  Excuse  me,  major,  I  ought  to  have  done  so  at  once, 
but  somehow  self  will  crop  out,  and  the  subject  daily 
nearest  to  the  heart  is  the  one  most  apt  to  engage 
our  attention.  Your  time  is  fully  occupied,  so  I  will 
not  detain  you,  except  by  a  brief  sketch  of  affairs  in 
which  I  know  you  are  as  much  interested  as  myself." 

"  You  interest  me  by  the  recital  of  your  own  affairs. 


652  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

They  are  so   closely  blended  with  mine  that  every 
word  interests  me." 

"  You  are  as  kind  as  I  expected,  major.  Let  me 
say  I  was  deeply  interested  in  your  sister,  and  was 
known,  I  think,  as  a  Union  man  in  this  part  of  the 
State.  In  'G2,  or  rather  the  latter  part  of  that  year, 
there  was  quite  an  exodus  of  Union  people  from 
Texas.  They  sought  out  my  house  instinctively,  and 
I  think  I  can  say  with  truth  they  always  found  in  me 
a  friend.  I  expected  your  mother.  Indeed,  I  looked 
for  Mrs.  Boardman  and  Miss  Amy,  and  perhaps 
Cooper  Johnson  and  Mr.  Bell.  I  knew  all  about  the 
Union  people  in  your  part  of  Texas,  and  when  your 
immediate  friends  reached  me  I  was  glad  to  know 
that  the  wife  and  mother  of  your  friend  Graines  were 
permitted  to  remain.  You,  of  course,  know  about 
that  infamous  confiscation  act,  and  the  vile  '  Receiv- 
ers,' as  they  are  called,  who  were  appointed  by  the 
Southern  government.  Under  that  order,  or  act,  I 
have  forgotten  which  it  was,  your  mother  lost  her 
property,  and  subsequently  Mrs.  Boardman  was  turned 
out  of  her  place,  a  man  named  Church  purchasing 
the  property  when  it  was  put  up  for  sale.  The  three 
ladies  started  east,  hardly  knowing  their  destination, 
and  they  reached  New  Iberia  destitute  and  without 
friends.  There  were  others  besides  myself  true  to 
the  Union.  Mr.  Trrbard,  a  French  gentleman,  ac- 
quainted me  with  the  an-ival  of  your  friends,  and  I 
can  assure  you  I  was  not  slow  in  finding  them  out. 
It  was  impossible  for  them  to  go  North  at  the  time, 
and  I  was  more  than  glad  to  be  able  to  offer  them  my 
protection.  Since  then  they  have  been  living  with 
me,  sharing  my  privations  and  waiting  with  me  foi 
the  end." 


EN  ROUTE.  663 

Mr.  Henry  ceased,  and  Eobert  grasped  his  hand. 

"  I  cannot  thank  you,  my  friend.  Those  whom  you 
have  aided  are  dear  to  me  as  life  ;  without  them  I 
would  not  ask  to  live  beyond  the  restoration  of  my 
country.   Where  is  Amy,  now  ;  where  is  my  mother?" 

**  They  are  all  in  Algiers." 

"  I  wish  I  had  known  that  before.  I  was  for  ten 
days  in  New  Orleans.  I  might  have  been  with  you 
all  the  time." 

Mr.  Henry  handed  the  major  a  letter  as  he  ceased 
speaking.  On  opening  it,  it  proved  to  be  an  order 
from  General  Banks  directing  him  to  turn  over  his 
office  to  Colonel  Whiting  and  report  at  once  to  him 
at  New  Orleans. 

That  night  Colonel  Whiting  was  provost  marshal 
of  New  Iberia,  and  Major  Warren,  in  company  with 
Mr.  Henry,  was  en  route  to  Berwick's  Bay,  where  they 
expected  to  find  the  boat  en  route  to  New  Orleans. 


CHAPTER   XLIV. 


GONZELLETTA. 

It  was  October,  18C5.  The  weather  was  soft  and 
balmy,  and  the  green  woods,  and  yellow  plains,  and 
white  cotton  fields,  about  Gonzelletta  made  a  tropical 
picture,  of  which  the  eye  did  not  soon  weary.  The 
cattle,  sleek  and  fat  from  the  summer's  pasturage, 
covered  the  prairies,  and  the  cotton  pickers'  songs, 
with  chorus  and  laughter,  came  from  the  fields  about. 
As  when  our  story  began,  Mrs.  Boardman  and  her 
daughter  were  sitting  in  the  wide  gallery.  The  mo- 
ther, with  a  look  of  calm  contentment  on  her  matronly 
face,  marked  by  a  few  more  fine  lines  about  the  eyes 
and  mouth  than  when  first  we  saw  her.  Amy,  the 
same  bright,  impulsive  girl,  a  little  more  dignified  in 
her  bearing  and  more  womanly  in  her  full  develop- 
ment. 

"Mother,  they  ought  to  have  been  here  three, days 
ago.  If  they  do  not  arrive  this  afternoon  I  shall  ^be 
alarmed.  I  think  it 's  not  kind  in  Robert,  to  be  so 
positive  about  the  day  he  would  get  back,  when  he 
must  know  how  a  disappointment  would  annoy  me.'* 

Amy's  lip  trembled  as  she  spoke. 

'•  My  dear  child,  I  fear  your  experience  has  not 
taught  you  patience.  There  is  some  good  reason  for 
Robert's  not  coming.  You  know  his  mother  was  not 
strong  when  he  took  her  away ;  and  then  he  wished 


NEWS  OF  TOM.  555 

to  arrange  fully  in  Washington  about  this  place  and 
his  own,  which  the  rebels  had  confiscated." 

Mrs.  Boardman  stopped,  attracted  by  the  approach 
of  a  number  of  soldiers,  accompanied  by  an  officer,. 
A  short  distance  from  the  house  the  officer  permitted 
his  men  to  rest  under  the  fig  trees  and  walked  toward 
the  gallery. 

"  "Welcome,  Captain  Chamberlain ;  any  news  from 
the  San  Beraard?" 

Captain  Chamberlain,  a  handsome  young  man  with 
an  empty  sleeve,  saluted  the  ladies  with  a  cordiality 
that  bespoke  an  intimate  acquaintance  and,  sitting 
down,  said : 

"The  people  on  the  San  Beniard  are  gradually 
cooling  down.  It  does  n't  pay  to  insult  United  States 
soldiers.  Ever  since  we  sent  old  Gamble  away  from 
these  pleasant  quarters  the  rebels  keep  their  thoughts 
to  themselves.  By  the  w^ay,  what  has  become  of  the 
Townsend  family?  I  have  lost  sight  of  them  since 
they  left  the  Warren  plantation.'* 

"  I  think  they  went  West,"  said  Mi-s.  Boardman. 
**  Mr.  Townsend  sold  all  his  property  in  order  to  secure 
the  Warren  plantation.  Of  course,  the  title  to  the 
purchaser  of  his  own  property  was  good.  Unfortu- 
nately for  him,  the  'Confederacy,'  as  they  call  it, 
could  not  give  as  secure  a  title  to  his  avaricious 
acquisitions,  and  he  is  to-day  a  poor  man,  wherever 
he  is." 

"The  reason  I  asked  about  Townsend,"  said  the 
captain,  "  is  that  a  son  of  his,  who  had  been  in  the 
Texas  Bangers,  returned  to  Brazoria  this  morning. 
He  w^as  led  by  a  black  boy  named  Tom.  I  think  the 
boy  told  me  his  name  was  Tom  Boardman." 


056  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"Why,  that  's  my  Tom,"  said  Amy  quickly. 
"That's  the  boy  I  gave  Mary  "Warren  when  she  went 
North  during  the  war.  Now  I  remember,  Henderson 
To>Aiiscnd  was  present  when  Mary  was  arrested,  and 
Kobert — I  mean  Colonel  Warren — told  me  he  thought 
Townsend  had  him." 

"  Did  I  understand  you  to  sayi;hat  the  boy  led  this 
man?"  asked  Mrs.  Boardman, 

*'  Yes  ;  Townsend  is  completely  blind,  though  one 
would  hardly  think  so  to  look  at  his  eyes.  I  spoke 
to  him,  and  he  told  me  that  he  left  the  Rangers  in 
'64,  and  that  the  explosion  of  a  shell  near  Nashville 
had  deprived  him  forever  of  sight." 

Amy  held  down  her  head  as  she  said,  in  a  low, 
distinct  voice : 

*'  God's  ways  are  past  our  finding  out.  Nearly  five 
years  ago  that  man,  vain  and  weak  and  boastful,  sat 
where  you  now  sit,  captain  ;  and  when  I  told  him  the 
flag  of  the  Union  would  yet  float  from  the  court- 
house from  which  men  like  him  in  feeling,  but  better 
in  heart,  had  torn  it  he  said  :  *  So  help  me  God,  these 
eyes  vjlll  he  blasted  before  they  rest  on  Bob  Warren 
here.*  They  never  will;  but,  thank  God,  Robert 
Warren  lives  and  the  flag  floats  there." 

So  deeply  were  all  interested  in  what  Amy  was 
saying  that  they  did  not  notice  Gaines  till  he  had 
dismounted  and  was  fastening  his  horse  near  the 
house.  He  approached,  walking  with  a  perceptible 
lameness,  the  effect  of  a  wound  received  on  Sher- 
man's march.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  poorly- 
dressed  young  black  man,  who  bore  a  striking  resem- 
blanca  to  Mary's  body-guard.  His  identity  was  soon 
confirmed,  for  before  Captain  Gaines  had  reached 


"MAMMY  IS  DAT  YOU?"  557 

the  gallery  a  black  woman  rushed  from  one  of  the 
outbuildings  with  hysterical  cries  of — 

"  Tommy  !  Oh  my  Tommy,  whar  did  yeh  cum  from, 
bless  de  Lor',  Tommy." 

Had  Tommy  any  religious  thoughts  about  "blessing 
de  Lor'"  his  ability  to  give  any  outward  manifestat 
tioH  of  the  fact  was  curtailed  by  the  black  arms  about 
him  and  the  whole-soul  kisses  that  were  lavishly 
poured  on  his  hungry  black  face.  He  found  time 
between  the  woman's  rude  terms  of  endearment  to  ask : 
"Mammy  is dat  you?"  not  that  he  had  the  slightest 
doubt  of  the  fact,  but  like  all  great  travelers  he  did 
want  to  appear  embarrassed.  On  being  assured  by 
the  maternal  lips  of  her  relationship.  Tommy  extri- 
cated himself,  and,  placing  his  hands  over  the  place 
supposed  to  be  occupied  by  organs  of  digestion,  he 
said ; 

"  Oh,  golly,  but  I  'se  hungry. "  This  salutation  was 
greeted  with  laughter  by  the  party  on  the  gallery, 
and  Tommy  bowing  awkwardly  to  his  former  mistress 
precipitately  retreated  toward  the  kitchen  with  his  de- 
iighted  mammy. 

"I  found  that  boy  in  Bi^azoria  "  said  Gaines  laugh- 
ing, and  I  fed  him  till  I  really  had  fears  for  his  life, 
but  the  poor  fellow  has  evidently  starved  a  gi'cat  deal. 
*'Did  you  see  Townsend,"  asked  Captain  Chamber- 
lain. 

*'  Yes,  and  a  more  miserable  wretch  I  trust  I  may 
never  see  again.  Some  of  our  soldiers  in  the  village 
gave  him  clothes,  blue  Yankee  clothes,  poor  devil,  all 
colors  are  alike  to  him  now.  We  raised  a  collection 
for  him  and  will  send  him  West  when  we  learn  where 
his  father  is," 

47* 


658  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

"How  is  your  family,  captain?  I  heard  ytur 
mother  was  not  well,"  said  Mrs.  Boardman. 

"  I  never  saw  my  wife  lookin£j  better.  She  says 
she  never  felt  better.  My  buy  nas  gotten  over  his 
strangeness  and  accepts  the  situation.  He  says  he 
loves  me,  but  would  like  me  better  if  I  had  no  beard 
like  his  grandma.  I  think  my  mother  is  stronger, 
though  subject  to  those  nervous  attacks  brought  on 
by  her  anxiety  while  I  was  away.  I  came  over  to  pay 
my  respects,  and  bring  you  that  poor  black,  but  above 
all  to  see  Miss  Mary  "Warren  and  the  Colonel,  with 
his  mother.  He  wrote  me  he  would  be  here  for  cer- 
tain to-day." 

*'  If  Robert  doesn't  come  this  afternoon,  I  shall  be 
more  provoked  with  him  than  I  can  express,"  said 
Amy  pettishly,  Captain  Gaines  laughed. 

"  Miss  Amy  you  must  n't  give  up  now.  I  have  a 
distinct  recollection  of  the  colonel's  leaving  here  one 
stormy  night  in  March,  *G1,  and  though  you  did  not 
see  him  for  nearly  four  years,  I  think  I  am  safe 
in  saying  you  never  got  provoked  with  him." 

*'  AVhy  to  be  sm*e  not,  I  made  a  virture  of  a  neces- 
sity, but,  Captain  Gaines,  every  body  knows  the  wed- 
ding is  to  be  one  week  from  to-day  and  Mary  is 
brirging  iny  irossean  with  her,  I  cannot  prepare  in 
time  if  he  does  not  come.  However,  I  will  not  lose 
heart  till  the  carriage  returns  from  Columbia."  After 
a  few  minutes  spent  in  general  conversation  the  two 
gentlemen  rose  to  go,  Captain  Chamberlain  to  visit 
the  guard  stationed  on  the  Warren  plantation,  and 
Gaines  to  ride  up  the  river,  promising  as  he  left  to 
return  early  on  the  morrow. 

Tom  was  sent  for  after  the  visitors  departed,  and 


THE  EETtTRN.  jj, 

before  he  got  through  with  his  disjointed,  and  very 
amusing,  narration  of  his  adventures  since  he  had  left 
Gonzelletta,  the  sun  was  hanging  from  over  the  wooded 
Ime  of  the  San  Bernard,  and  flooding  the  prairie  be- 
yond and  the  groves  of  live  oak  in  the  direction  of 
the  Brazos.     Amy  had  been  watching  anxiously,  her 
eyes  roaming  over  the  brown,  winding  road  that  was 
lost  to  sight  about  a  half  a  mile  from  the  house     Sud- 
denly she  bounded  from  her  chair,  as  a  cloud  of  dust 
rose  m  the  distant  grove  through  which  the  road  ran. 
Ihere  is  the  carriage  !"  she  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  they 
have  come,  mother,  they  have  come  1"  and  she  bounded 
down  the  avenue  of  magnolia  trees.     The  occupants 
orthe  carnage  saw  her,  and  waved  their  handker- 
chiefs m  token  of  recognition.      The  driver  urged 
forward  the  horses,  and  drew  up  as  he  neared  Amy. 
who  had  been  followed  at  a  more  deliberate  pace  by 
her  mother      The  door  of  the  carriage  opened,  their 
was  a  cry  of  delight  as  a  slender  girlish  form  quickly 
descended  and  Mary  and  Amy  were  clasped  in  each 
other  s  arms.     There  was  a  kissing  and  hand-shaking, 
and  little  joyful  sobs  all  round,  excepting  the  very 
pleasant  part  which  Robert  performed,  and  the  car- 
riage went  on  and  theparty  walked  back  to  the  house, 
the  girls  with  encircling  arms  and  Robert  between 
the  elder  ladies. 

"Oh  Robert,  if  you  had  not  returned  to-day  I  would 
have  been  fearfully  angry." 

"  And  I  fearfully  disappointed,"  said  Robert,  as  he 
ascended  the  steps  and  bent  his  bronzed  face  till  his 
bearded  cheek  rested  against  the  glowing  one  of  the 
now  beautiful  girl.  "  After  awhile  I  will  tell  you  the 
cause  of  our  delay  and  then  you  will  be  glad  that  I 


560  WAITREN  OF  TfiXAS." 

was   detained  over  one  boat.     No,  I  can 't  tell  you 
noAv ;   here  comes  Archy,  I  want  to  speak  with  him." 

The  ladies  entered  the  house,  and  Archy's  tall  form 
was  seen  in  the  twilight,  approaching  with  his  sweep- 
ing stride  through  the  grove.  By  his  side  walked,  or 
rather  ran,  a  briglit  bare-headed  black  boy  about 
eight  years  of  age. 

"  Hello,  Archy  ! "  was  Robert's  greeting.  "  Glad 
to  see  you  my  boy,"  grasping  the  strong,  ever-faithful 
black  hand. 

"  Clar*  to  goodness,  Mauss  Robut,  I  'se  been  awful 
lonely  since  yeh  lef  two  months  ago.  'Pears  like 
years." 

•'Why  Archy,  I  never  imagined  you  would  miss 
me,  now  you  are  home  again  all  safe  with  Susey  and 
the  young  ones.     How  are  they." 

*'  Neber  better,  praise  de  Lor* !  Heah's  one  ob  de 
pickaninnies.  Dis  is  Bob.  Called  'im  arter  you. 
Fore  heaben,  Mauss  Robut,  dem  ar  young  uns  gib  me 
a  heap  o'  trubble  durin'  de  war.  Howsomdever,  it 's 
all  nicer  now  wen  its  ober.  Whar  's  Mauss  Tennessee, 
thought  he  was  a  comin'." 

'*  He  will  be  here  in  a  few  days,  Archy,  with  Major 
Richardson.  His  wife  was  not  able  to  travel  or  he 
would  have  come  on  with  me.  I  left  him  in  New 
Orleans." 

*'  Oh,  golly,  but  Susey '11  be  glad  to  see  dem  men. 
I  'se  tole  her  so  much  about  'em,  she  's  nigh  crazy  to 
see  'em.  Gosh,  dar  she  is  now !  "  As  Archy  turned 
at  the  familiar  steps,  Susey  appeared  on  the  gallery, 
leading  the  other  pickaninny,  a  little  girl. 

"Fore  heben,  I's  glad  to  see  yeh  agin,  Mauss 
Bobut,  an*  yeh  aint  agwine  away  no  more,  an'  yeb  's 


A  HAPPY  REUNION.  561 

all  a  comiii*  back  to  de  ole  home;  an'  whar'sMiss 
Mary?  Tell,  please." 

Susey  poured  this  out  breathlessly,  as  she  pressed 
her  young  master's  hand. 

*'Here,  Susey,  here  I  am!"  called  out  Mary  from 
the  house. 

A  cry  of  joy  from  the  black  woman,  and  leaving 
the  child  on  the  gallery,  she  rushed  in  and  threw  hei 
arms  about  the  slender  form  of  the  young  mistress, 
and  sobbed  out,  "  Praise  de  Lor' !  Oh,  gib  thanks.  Oh 
my  darlin'  my  own  little  miss  !  My  own  purty  little 
girl.  Bress  God,  yeh  's  back !  safe  back,  safe  back,'* 
and  Susey's  heart,  too  full  of  affection  for  expression 
in  words,  overflowed  in  tears,  which  she  poured  on 
the  small  white  hands  so  many  brave  men  had 
blessed. 

* '  Yes,  home,  thank  God,  Susey !  Home  with  yon 
all  whom  I  love,"  and  the  contagion  of  tears  spread 
to  her  own  eyes  and  those  of  Amy  by  her  side. 
Archy  came  in  and  bowed  over  the  little  hand  which 
he  held,  and  rising  applied  the  new  bandana  to  his 
eyes,  and  said  in  a  low  voice  : 

"  I  've  seen  right  smart  trubble,  Mauss  Bob,  with- 
out wettin'  my  eyes,  but  clar  to  Massy  I 's  so  happy 
I  can  't  help  it.  It 's  de  bread  we  cas'  on  de  waters 
long  ago,  a  retumin',  some  ten,  some  a  hundred  fole.* 
It  would  be  hard  to  imagine  a  pleasanter  reunion 
than  that  which  gathered  about  Mrs.  Boardman'  s  supper 
table  that  evening.  Susey,  to  her  great  delight,  was 
permitted  to  remain  and  devote  herself  to  the  plate 
of  her  young  mistress,  while  she  listened  in  wonder 
to  the  narration  of  her  adventures,  leaving  Texas, 
and  the  story  of  her  labors  in  the  hospital  at  Nashville. 


562  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

Mrs.  "Warren  looked  the  happiness  she  felt,  as  she 
gazed  on  the  faces  of  her  dear  ones  and  contrasted 
the  joyful  present  with  the  gloomy  past.  After  sup- 
per there  was  a  clattering  of  heavy  feet  outside  and 
black  faces  peered  through  the  windows  "to  see  Mauss 
Bob,  an'  de  young  miss,  agin,"  and  "  Mauss  Bob,  an' 
de  young  miss,"  learning  that  the  people  were  over 
from  the  old  home  to  see  them,  went  out  on  the  gal- 
lery, where  a  cheer  gi*eeted  them,  and  suddenly  a  hun- 
dred torches  were  lit  about  the  house,  and  in  the 
magnolia  grove,  each  carried  by  a  happy  freeman, 
who,  until  the  war,  never  knew  he  was  a  slave. 

After  the  black  people  had  feasted  their  eyes,  and 
sang  and  shouted  themselves  hoarse,  at  Eobert's  re- 
quest, they  quietly  retired,  and  the  white  people  re- 
entered the  parlor. 

"  Robert,  you  promised  to  tell  me  the  cause  of  your 
detention,"  said  Amy,  as  she  took  a  seat  beside  him 
and  laid  one  hand  lovingly  on  his  broad  shoulder. 
*'  I  am  dying  with  curiosity  to  know." 

*'Well,  my  dear  little  girl,  rather  than  let  your 
curiosity  keep  you  in  a  condition  which  might  result 
dangeroas'y  to  ray  happiness,  I  will  tell  you.  You 
have  heard  me  speak  about  Major  Eichardson?" 

"  Very  often ;  and  I  am  longing  to  see  and  love 
him."  She  looked  archly  at  Mary,  and  Mary  blushed 
and  cast  down  her  eyes. 

*' Never  mind  about  loving  him.  If  I  did  not  ob- 
ject, Mary  would,  and  I  fear  your  affection  would 
bring  trouble  to  the  camp."  He  would  have  gone  on, 
but  Amy,  with  a  coquettish  little  scream,  placed  her 
hand  over  his  mouth  and  said  he  was  "  awfully  wicked 
to  put  such  a  construction  on  her  words." 


FRIENDS  COMING.  663 

"  I  am  going  to  tell  you  that  Major  Kichardson, 
jrho  had  left  me  the  day  we  were  to  have  started  from 
Washington,  telegraphed  from  Philadelphia  not  to 
leave  that  night,  as  he  would  return  by  the  next  train 
to  see  me.  We  waited  and  lost  the  connection,  keep- 
ing us  back  three  days.  The  major  had  intended 
coming  on  in  January,  to  be  married  (Mary  dropped 
her  head  still  lower),  but  I  presume  he  realized  fully 
bis  destitute  and  entirely  desolate  condition  by  the 
time  he  reached  Philadelphia.  When  he  returned  he 
gt)t  the  little  nurse  to  consent,  with  the  dear  mother's 
approval  and  big  brother's  essential  sanction  that  the 
wedding  should  take  place  here,  on  the  same  day  and 
hour  that  the  little  affair  in  which  you  and  I  are  in- 
terested comes  off." 

*'  Oh,  I  am  so  glad  you  waited,"  and  the  impulsive 
girl  sprang  to  Mary's  side  and  raised  the  burning  face^ 
and  kissed  it  again  and  again  with  a  torrent  of  en- 
dearing names. 

"  I  did  not  tell  you  all,  however.  My  cousin* 
Colonel  Allen  Warren,  is  to  come  on  with  him,  and 
your  friends — indeed,  all  our  friends,  Mr.  Henry  and 
Louisa — will  be  here  by  the  same  steamer." 

"  Oh,  thank  you,  thank  you,  Robert !  It  was  very 
selfish  and  thoughtless  in  me  to  complain.  I  will 
never,  never  be  thoughtless  again.  I  ought  to  have 
known  you  would  all  be  here  but  for  some  good 
reason." 

It  was  the  day  before  that  set  apart  for  the  wedding, 
a  beautiful,  balmy  day,  with  just  enough  wind  coming 
from  the  gulf  to  vibrate  the  halyards  pendent  from 
the  flagstaff  on  the  court  house  at  Brazoria.  A  num- 
ber of  horses  were  fastened  to  the  rack  before  the 


664  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

tavern  door,  and  a  half  dozen  carriages  were  gathered 
in  the  adjoining  sheds.  The  troops  in  blue  that 
walked  the  streets  appeared  more  smartly  dressed 
than  usual,  with  bright  belt  and  shining  side-arms, 
while  near  the  glistening  stacks  of  muskets  in  the 
court-house  yard  an  armed  guard  paced,  and  groups 
of  soldiers  in  full  dress  reclined  on  the  yellow  sward. 
The  streets  Avere  crowded  with  black  men  in  holiday 
attire,  while  here  and  there  a  bearded  face,  from  be- 
neath a  slouched  hat,  looked  jealously  on  the  scene. 

In  the  same  room  where  on  that  fearful  day  of  'Gl 
a  little  band  of  Union  men  had  gathered,  there  was 
another  and  a  larger  group  about  the  table,  aud  one 
black,  wearing  the  blue,  in  their  midst. 

'•My  friends,  although  mustered  out  of  service 
months  ago,  as  were  you,  Richardson,  and  Gaines, 
and  Colonel  Allen  Warren,  Tennessee,  and,  I  might 
add,  Archy,  I  think  it  is  eminently  proper  that  on  this 
occasion  we  should  appear  in  the  same  harness  which 
we  wore  while  struggling  to  bring  this  flag  back  to  the 
Brazos."  Kobert  pointed  to  a  flag  on  the  table  as  he 
spoke,  and  addressed  his  remarks  to  a  number  of 
United  States  oflicers. 

His  speech  was  applauded  by  the  officers,  and  Cap- 
tain Chamberlain  raised  his  aim  so  eloquent  of  his 
valor  as  he  said  : 

"  You  have  won  the  right  to  wear  it.  Thank  God, 
Texas  has  some  redeeming  features,'* 

*'  You  will  notice,  my  friends,  on  this  blue  field  I 
have  sewed,  with  my  own  hand,  a  number  of  tatters 
of  the  old  flag.  Some  of  you  know  the  history  of 
what,  to  an  ordinary  observer,  would  seem  rags.  The} 
are  the  remnants  of  the  flag  which  floated  over  yon- 


THE  TAMERED  FLAG.  565 

der  court-house  before  the  secession  of  'Gl.  I  saw 
that  flag  hauled  down,  torn  to  tatters,  and  trampled 
in  the  dust ;  and,  when  the  infuriated  crowd  dis- 
persed, I  picked  these  soiled  tatters  from  the  dirt ; 
and  here,  in  this  room,  a  little  band  of  us  swore  never 
to  rest  till  the  flag  came  back  to  the  Brazos.  Of  the 
men  who  raised  their  hands  to  Heaven  that  day  with 
me,  there  is  but  one  left.  (Laying  his  hand  on  the 
captain's  shoulder.)  My  brother-in-arras,  and  my 
devoted  friend  in  peril — the  gallant  Andrew  Gaines. 
I  will  not  tire  you,  my  friends,  with  a  history  of  our 
trials,  or  the  still  sadder  narration  of  the  suflerings  of 
the  dear  ones  we  left  behind.  I  carried  those  tatters 
with  me  to  Kentucky.  They  were  in  my  breast  at 
Somerset,  Donelson,  and  Shiloh.  A  rebel  bullet 
pierced  them — see  this  star ! — before  it  entered  the 
lung,  where  now  it  is  lodged.  I  had  them  with  me 
at  Vicksburg ;  but  fortunately  they  were  left  in  my 
trunk  a  few  days  before  my  capture.  "When  T  was 
stationed  at  New  Orleans,  where  I  spent  the  last  eight 
months  of  my  service,  I  had  them  sent  down  to  me 
at  once.  I  would  have  obeyed  my  first  impulse  at 
the  close  of  the  war  by  giving  them  to  the  free 
winds  at  once,  when  there  were  soldiers  here  to  de- 
fend them  ;  but  I  remembered  Gaines,  and  Tennessee, 
and  E-ichardson,  and  my  noble  cousin,  and  others 
whose  faith  was  as  strong,  and  whose  efforts  were 
greater  than  mine,  and  I  decided  that  they  should  share 
my  triumph.  Of  the  men  who  hauled  down  the  flag, 
but  few  are  left.  The  noblest  and  bravest,  John 
Wharton,  was  murdered  by  one  of  his  own  confeder- 
ates. Addison,  a  noble  misguided  lad,  sleeps  at  John- 
son's Island,  where  he  died  a  prisoner  in  our  hands. 
48 


666  WARREN  OFTEXAS. 

Beiitly,  a  gallant  man,  noble  in  his  impulses,  bnt 
UTong  in  their  direction,  lies  on  the  banks  of  White 
Oak  River,  in  Tennessee.  Otliers  sleep  on  many  bat- 
tle-fields ;  a  few  wounded  surv^ivors,  and  others,  home- 
less and  friendless,  are  left.  God  knows  T  would  and 
will  do  all  I  can  to  make  them  happy  mider  the  flag 
they  did  so  much  to  ruin. 

Excuse  me,  my  friends,  I  did  not  intend  making 
a  speech  ;  but  my  heart  is  full  of  the  memories  of  the 
past,  and  with  the  pleasant  surroundings  of  the  pres- 
ent. Let  us  throw  up  this  flag,  and  to-morrow  eve- 
ning we  will  meet  again  at  Gonzelletta." 

"  The  kernel's  head  wuz  allers  level.  I  '11  say  that 
fur  him,  even  though  I  knows  he 's  agoin  ter  git  mar- 
ried. I  allers  feared  thar  was  suthin  of  that  kind 
wrong  with  him.  Dogon'd,  boys,  if  I  aint  glad  ter  be 
heah.  I've  suffered  right  smart  myself.  My  father, 
brothers,  and,  wus  than  all,  my  little  ones  were  taken  ; 
but  the  ole  woman's  left,  and,  down  heah  on  the  Bra- 
zos, we're  agoin  to  live  an'  take  a  fresh  start.  I  don't 
feel  sorry  that  I  look  a  ban',  friends,  not  by  a  danied 
sight.    I've  had  my  share  of  consolations  with  it  all." 

The  oflScers  descended  the  stairs  after  they  had 
severally  grasped  the  hand  of  the  brave  Tennessee. 
Outside  they  fonncd  in  order,  Robert,  Gaines,  and 
Archy  in  the  advance.  The  bugle  sounded,  the  sol- 
diers fell  in  and  seized  their  arms,  and,  as  the  three 
men  entered  the  court-house  with  the  flag,  the  officer 
in  command  ga-e  the  ringing  order,  "  presert  arms  1 " 

A  few  minutes,  and  the  flag  was  fast  to  the  hal- 
yards, and,  mid  ringing  cheers,  it  rose  and  streamed 
out,  brighter  and  fairer,  and  freer  than  ever  before, 
and  every  man  gazing  up  at  its  folds  shared  equally 


A  DOUBLE  WEDDING.  667 

in  its  protection,  and  looked  to  Heaven  free.  The 
tatters  spake  of  its  ancient  glory.  The  shame  and 
the  disgrace  were  torn  from  it  by  traitors'  hands,  to 
be  kept  separated  from  it  by  loyal  ones  forever. 

A  shabbily -dressed  man,  leaning  on  the  shoulder 
of  a  grey- clad  comrade  outside  the  yard  said : 

"Taylor,  what's  all  the  shoutin  for?" 

*'  Bob  Warren  has  raised  the  flag." 

"I  will  never  see  it  again."  Henderson  Townsend 
pressed  his  browTi  hand  to  his  sightless  eyes. 

There  were  women  present,  whose  hearts  overflowed 
at  the  scenes  they  had  witnessed,  and  Mr.  Henry, 
who,  as  a  non-military  man,  remained  with  them, 
vowed  it  was  the  happiest  day  of  his  life.  And  when 
the  officers  gathered  about  the  carriages,  he  told  them 
they  had  committed  a  great  oversight  in  not  asking 
the  bravest  soldier  of  all,  Mary  Warren,  to  participate 
in  the  ceremonies. 

"  Yes,  the  bravest  and  the  best,  would  the  world 
were  like  her,"  said  Richaidson,  as  he  looked  fondly 
on  the  flushed  face  of  the  noble  girl. 

There  was  a  grand  gathering  at  Gronzelletta  next 
day,  officers  in  uniform  and  grooms  in  full  dress,  sol- 
diers from  the  surrounding  stations  and  gaudily  dressed 
negroes  from  both  plantations.  A  chaplain  had  come 
on  from  New  Orleans  to  perform  the  ceremony,  and 
Tennessee's  wife  told  Mrs.  Gaines  she  "really  never 
seed  anything  so  awful  fine  in  her  life,  nor  gals  so 
purty  as  the  two  agoin'  ter  be  hitched,"  adding  as 
she  noticed  Colonel  Allen  Warren  and  Louisa  Henry 
much  interested  in  each  other  at  the  end  of  the  gal- 
lery, "Shouldn't  wonder  a  bit  if  them  'ar  two  would 
go  nex'.     They  kinder  strikes  me  that  way." 


6Gt  WARREN  OF  TEXAS. 

And  Mrs.  Gaines,  resting  her  hand  on  the  Lead  of 
her  bright  boy,  said  she  "  would  not  be  at  all  sur- 
prised." 

It  would  no  doubt  interest  many  of  our  readers  to 
give  a  detailed  account  of  the  wedding  and  the 
dresses,  and  how  the  brides  behaved,  and  how  the 
grooms  conducted  themselves.  All  passed  off  hap- 
pily, and  the  day  was  one  of  festivity  and  joy  as  Gon- 
zelletta  had  never  before  seen. 

A  few  days  after  the  wedding,  for  the  young  mar- 
ried people  did  not  run  off  on  a  foolish  bridal  tour  as 
if  ashamed  of  what  they  had  done,  Richardson  said 
to  Robert : 

'Mary  will  not  want  to  leave  here.  I  have,  as  you 
know,  sold  my  property  in  Tennessee,  and  we  have 
decided  to  settle  permanently  in  Gonzelletta." 

"Why,  of  course,  I  never  dreamed  of  you  going 
away.  Mary  has  some  ten  thousand  acres  along  the 
river.  Mr.  Henry  has  made  up  his  mind  to  come  here 
in  a  few  months,  and  now  that  my  uncle  is  dead  and 
Bell  married,  I  am  sure  Cousin  Allen  will  come  down 
and  add  to  our  settlement.  I  am  the  more  assured  of 
this  as  he  and  Miss  Henry  seem  more  devoted  than  I 
ever  saw  people  on  the  same  acquaintance." 

It  is  1870,  and  Texas,  though  rent  by  dissensions 
and  disgraced  by  lawlessness  for  five  years,  has  one 
place  where  there  is  peace  and  prosperity,  because  it 
is  the  abode  of  loyalty  and  intelligence — Gonzelletta, 
the  home  of  Warren  of  Texas. 


RARE  BOOK 
COLLECTION 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT 

CHAPEL  HILL 

Wilmer 
355 


